Phoenix Phantom
by R.tistiC
Summary: Challenge response. Danny and Danielle are in England and happen to witness an introduction to a world they never knew existed when they see Harry Potter face Dementors in an alleyway of Little Whinging. When the Order of the Phoenix finds out that the Phantoms could somehow also see dementors, despite being muggles, secrets of the Wizarding World and their upcoming war unravel.
1. Demented

**This is in answer to a challenge someone gave me through a private message that I only took up after brainstorming some possibilities with my sister, known on this site as 'Blackjay'. And I wanted Danielle to be the same year as Harry for this, since it was requested to have the DP part to be from my own stories. This, therefore already makes Danny too old to be in Hogwarts, given those rules.**

**I know people have wanted me to write a third story to my DP fanfictions and I realize a crossover isn't exactly what you might have had in mind. Honestly, I don't really think of this as a sequel to them at all. But unless I come up with something that would work as a trilogy conclusion, this will have to make due for now. **

**I'm technically still pretty busy, but if I'm going to get any better at writing, I'm going to have to keep going with it and the only reason I've decided to sit down and do this is probably because the majority of the story is already written by J.K Rowling. You may notice that I'm taking large chunks of her book and putting them in this one almost word for word. It may get boring depending on how many times you've read the books.**

**_This particular story takes place during the summer after Clash of All Time. Before all you smart fans start pointing out contradictions with the timing of my own stories, I'll tell you right now that I'm well aware of it already and frankly don't care, as I think of this as more of a "What if" situation that happens on the side rather than one that has any real connection with my own stories. _**

**_Anyway. I should also tell you that I plan on referring to some of the changes they did for the 5th Harry Potter movie in addition to the book. So keep that in mind as you read this next fanfiction as well. So here we go at long last. The start of a new story as to not leave those alert lists to waste._**

**_Disclaimer: I do NOT own Danny Phantom (Except my design of the older version of Danielle) or any of the Harry Potter books or movies_**_._

Chapter 1: Demented

It was a very hot day in Little Whinging. According to the news in fact, it was the hottest day of the summer thus far. Most of all the residents of Privet Drive had long since retreated into the shade of their cool houses with their windows left wide open at the unlikely chance of welcoming a breeze. The only people left outside were two look-alike teenagers: a boy and a girl. Actually, the two looked so much alike that all the locals who asked had already mistaken them as twins or at least brother and sister before they were corrected to be cousins.

The confusion was justified. Both teens had jet-black hair and blue eyes of the exact same shade. Even their manner of dress was so similar in color, even if not style, that one had the right to suggest at first glance that they had planned it.

No one living in Little Whinging had seen these two children before, but the boy had been commented to be, at first glance, strikingly similar to a "delinquent" neighbor they had heard was attending a place called _St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys. _ Both the teens couldn't help but snort at the concept of the name when out of earshot. They may have been visiting from overseas, but a name such as that sounded like it could have been made up.

Danny and Danielle Fenton didn't seem to be bothered by the heat of the day as much as one would think. While this alone would be questionable aside from being new in the neighborhood with no news of recent move-ins or any hotels nearby, no one was even outside to notice much. Which was more of a relief according to the Fenton cousins. Back in their American hometown, they had quite the reputation, therefore had all kinds of attention when so much as walking down a public street, such as the one they were currently on.

The two cousins walked silently down Privet Drive together, enjoying the nice change to have some piece and quiet without having to stay at home with "Keep Out" signs hanging on their bedroom doors. They heard muffled sounds of a television broadcasting the seven o' clock evening news as they were passing an open window from number four. Just as their distance from the square house was dulling out the sounds of the news, several things happened very quickly in succession.

A loud, echoing crack broke the sleepy silence like a gunshot; a cat streaked out from under a parked car and flew out of sight; a shriek; a bellowed oath, and the sound of breaking china came from the house they had just passed. Both teens spun around at the noise in time to see a black-haired bespectacled teenage boy suddenly jump up from behind the large hydrangea bush beneath the window of number four. The boy's head collided with the window before he could draw up to his full height and the resulting crash made a woman from inside the house let out an even louder scream than the first.

"Ooooooh." While Danny was still frantically looking around for the source of the noise that had started the disarray, Danielle grimaced in seeing the boy swaying slightly, clutching the top of his head from the impact with the window he had evidently been hiding under. He seemed pretty tall and had on rather baggy and faded clothing, considering how skinny he was. She also noticed that in his right hand, he was holding what appeared to be a very straight and thin wooden stick.

Just as the kid had barely staggered upright again, two large purple hands reached through the open window behind him and to Danielle's horror, closed tightly around the boy's throat. She quickly shook her cousin's arm to get his attention and pointed towards the kid that was being suffocated. Danny's eyes widened in seeing this. Out of reflex they had adapted from back home, they both took several hurried steps forward in an attempt to assist the teenager when the owner of the hands suddenly yelped and released him; almost as if he had been bitten or electrocuted into doing so.

Panting, the raven-haired boy fell forward over the hydrangea bush, but straightened up and stared around an instant later. Danny and Danielle ended up doing the same. There was no sign of what had caused the loud cracking noise, but there were now several faces peering through various nearby windows. The kid hastily stuffed the stick in his jeans as if trying to look innocent: A trick that Danny in particular recognized far too easily as something he himself had done multiple times in the past before he became as famous as he and his cousin now were in Amity Park.

"Lovely evening!" The fat, mustached man that had been choking the boy shouted, waving at the lady across the street in number seven, who was glaring from behind her net curtains. "Did you hear that car backfire? Gave Petunia and me quite a turn."

He continued to grin in a horrible, manic way until all the curious neighbors had disappeared from their various windows.

Danny and Danielle however, were not fooled. If anyone knew a cover-up story, the Fenton cousins did. And that crack sounded far from having to do with any car. Especially with it sounding that close and all cars within view seeming to be perfectly intact. Additionally, they were not going turn a blind eye to what looked like a near murder attempt of a child that couldn't have been any older than either of them.

By this time, the kid with glasses had noticed them standing there. The Fentons looked at each other for a second, nodding. Then they smiled to the boy, waving as they turned, pretending to be convinced by the story the man that nearly strangled him gave as they walked several steps away from number four. Once they were sure that no one was looking though, they took each other's hands and suddenly vanished from sight, having turned invisible. Then they quietly but quickly turned straight back for number four, finding the purple faced, mustached strangler grimacing at the boy in rage. A woman with a thin horsey face had appeared behind the wide man's purple one. She looked livid as she was asking the kid something the cousins didn't quite catch.

"Yes—yes. Good point Petunia! _What were you doing under our window, boy?_" The man was asking in addition by the time they had come within earshot, completely unsuspected by the trio.

"Listening to the news." The kid responded in a resigned voice.

The man and woman inside the house exchanged looks of outrage.

"Listening to the news! _Again_?"

"Well, it changes every day, you see." Said the boy.

"Don't you be clever with me, boy! I want to know what you're really up to—and don't give me any more of this _listening to the news _tosh! You know perfectly well that _your lot..."_

"Careful, Vernon!" Breathed the woman called Petunia, and the man, Vernon, lowered his voice so that the boy could barely hear. The two invisible teens had to creep to at least a foot away from them to hear what he was saying, "…that _your lot_ don't get on _our news_."

"That's all you know."

Petunia and Vernon goggled at him for a few seconds, then Petunia said, "you're a nasty little liar. What are all those—" She too lowered her voice and the Fenton's couldn't tell what word she was mouthing in between. "—Doing if they're not bringing you news?"

"Aha!' said Vernon in a triumphant whisper. "Get out of that one boy! As if we didn't know you get all your news from those pestilential birds."

The kid hesitated for a moment, as if what he was about to say next made him melancholy.

"The owls…aren't bringing me news," he said tonelessly.

"I don't believe it," said Petunia at once.

"No more do I," said Vernon forcefully.

"We know you're up to something funny," said Petunia.

"We're not stupid, you know," said Vernon.

"Well, _that's_ news to me," the boy said, his tone angered before he suddenly wheeled around, nearly running headlong into the invisible kids, had they not made themselves completely intangible in time for him to walk straight through them unnoticed before he crossed the front lawn, stepped over the low garden fence and was striding off up the street.

Both the Fentons agreed that that was probably going to come back and bite that kid's hand later, but it was also a very strange conversation. Firstly, had he forgotten that that man in the house had previously tried to strangle him? And what was he meaning by _his lot_? Did he not consider him to be normal? Or even human? Then there was that thing about _owls bringing him news_. What could _that_ have been about?

_Maybe we should follow him. _Danny thought directly to Danielle's mind through telepathy as to not be heard and therefore suspected by anyone else. Especially while invisible.

_He looks kind of like _you_, doesn't he?_ Danielle commented telepathically. _You think that's the "delinquent" the locals have told us about?_

Danny may not have been able to see her, but based on her tone in his head, he could tell that she had been using air-quotes on the word _delinquent_.

Suddenly he felt something hit him in the stomach, knowing that it was Danielle's invisible arm stopping him urgently in mid-step. He looked up and saw that the kid had wheeled around and was looking behind him looking in their general direction.

In a panic, Danny looked down at himself, seeing that he was indeed still completely invisible. And they were too far behind that boy for him to have possibly heard their footsteps. Weren't they?

To Danny's relief, the kid turned around and proceeded his way down the street. Though he still kept looking behind him every couple of steps as if expecting someone to be following him. Or perhaps he was thinking more about that cracking noise that had happened earlier.

Eventually, the kids had followed the boy to a playground where they watched him vault over the locked gate and set off again across the parched grass. When he reached the swings, he sank into the only one that wasn't broken, coiled his arm around the chain and stared moodily at the ground.

"Dani, why don't you keep your eye on that kid for a while?" Danielle heard Danny say at her right. "I'm going to go and see if that gang is up to no good again."

Danielle nodded in response to her older cousin before remembering she was invisible. "Okay." She said as she deactivated that power.

Only a few nights ago, they had caught a brawny kid and his friends mugging a ten-year old. They had seen them vandalizing the park and throwing rocks at passing cars as well. It was a wonder the neighbors weren't saying anything about _them_. Normally, either one of the cousins would have gone all-out superhero-mode on them and turned them over to the police, but what business was it of a few foreigners to interfere with the overseas justice system? The only reason they were in Britain was in response to a distress call from the Prime Minister and that problem had long since been taken care of. They were simply tourists for the remainder of their time here, not law-enforcers.

"Don't forget we're due to check in with mom and dad back at the hotel." Danny called, turning off his own invisibility as he set off down the street.

Danielle approached the park fence, staring at the dark-haired boy on the swing. She may not have known much about him, but based on his behavior when he was talking to that couple in number four Privet Drive, she concluded that despite his appearance, he was not the "delinquent" the neighbors had made him out to be. In fact, he looked rather lonely, sitting in that otherwise vacant park.

She stood there, just looking at the boy for quite some time as he continued to stare at the ground in his own musings. Eventually, she made a decision. Not wanting to bother jumping the fence the way he had, she turned herself intangible and walked right through it, the boy obviously too absorbed in his own thoughts to notice her use of power, nor her approach. The now lit street lamps cast a shadow from behind her that the boy must have begun to notice only as it was coming within a foot of his toes. He finally looked up when she was about ten feet away from him and seemed taken aback in realizing he had an audience. Danielle was now close enough to notice that he had a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead and wondered how he could have gotten one that looked like that.

"Hi." Danielle said with a friendly smile. Normally, she was a bit shy when it came to introducing herself to people back at home, granted, most people already knew who she was on the spot, making it even more awkward. Her cousin had suggested she make a bit more of an effort to meet new people, since their fame didn't seem to reach as many ears overseas.

"Hi." The boy responded almost quizzically. Then he looked around at the locked gate as if wondering how she had gotten in. As if boys were the _only_ ones who could climb fences if they wanted to. "The park's closed." The boy said with a confused expression.

"Which is why I was wondering what you were doing here?" Danielle retaliated with a smile.

The boy simply sighed, shaking his head. Then his expression changed and he looked at her again in consideration.

"What?" Danielle asked nervously.

"Your accent." The boy observed. "You're not from here are you?"

Danielle shook her head. "Nope. My name's Danielle. Danielle Fenton."

"Harry. Harry Potter." The boy responded simply.

"Nice to meet you, Harry." Danielle held her hand out for him to shake it. He looked at it hesitantly and glanced back up at her through his round glasses as if suspicious of some sort of trick.

"What's the matter? Is it offensive in Britain to shake hands with somebody you meet?" Danielle asked.

Harry shook his head. "It's just… no one around _here_ has ever bothered to before. Not with _me_ anyway. I have quite the reputation, see."

"I think I'll be the judge of that for myself, thank you. Besides, I just told you that I'm not _from_ here didn't I?"

After considering her for a moment, Harry hesitantly took her hand and shook it.

"So are you from the States, then?" Harry then asked.

Danielle nodded with a smile as she situated herself by the support bar of the swing-set, as the only working swing was already occupied by Harry.

"And where do you live?"

"Privet Drive. Few blocks away." Harry said, pointing ahead.

In hearing this, Danielle wondered if he was meaning number four with the violent porky man was. He lived there?

The sound of voices led both her and Harry to look up. The street lamps from the surrounding roads were casting a misty glow strong enough to silhouette a group of people making their way across the park. One of them was singing a loud, crude song. The others were laughing. A soft ticking noise came from several expensive racing bikes that they were wheeling along.

Danielle recognized those people. It was the gang that she and Danny had to stop from beating up that kid the other day. Danielle glared at them from a distance and wondered if Danny probably just caught them doing something else atrocious. She happened to glance over at Harry and found that he was scowling in their direction as if hoping they would see him and dare to pick a fight with him.

She looked back and they both watched warily and silently as the gang crossed the grass, not looking in their direction. Then their voices died as they headed along Magnolia Road and out of sight.

At that time, Harry got to his feet and stretched.

"Well, I'd better be off. My aunt and uncle will kill me if I'm home any later than my cousin."

"Okay." Danielle scoffed. "I probably should be going too, actually."

"You want any help over the fence?" He asked.

Danielle shook her head with a smile. "I got _in_ by myself, didn't I?"

Harry shrugged casually and proceeded to the gate. After they both vaulted it with ease, they set off down Magnolia Road. Harry walked rather quickly. Danielle had a hard time keeping up without having to run. About half way along, the gang came into view again; they were saying their farewells at the entrance to Magnolia Crescent. Danielle followed step behind Harry as he stepped into the shadow of a large lilac tree and they waited.

"…squealed like a pig, didn't he?" One of the boys was saying, to guffaws from the others.

"Yeah. At least until the American prat had to take all the fun out of everything again," said another.

Harry suddenly glanced at Danielle with a questioning look. Danielle shook her head, but still smiled inwardly, knowing it was mostly likely her cousin that was the _American prat_ they were referring to. Though she _had_ had her own fun with them a few days ago as well.

"You'll get him next time, Big D," said a third.

"Same time tomorrow?" said the leader they called Big D.

"Round at my place, my parents are out, and neither American kid can bother us there," said a fourth.

"See you then," said Big D.

"Bye Dud!"

"See ya, Big D!"

Harry and Danielle waited for the rest of the gang to move on before setting off again. When their voices had faded once more, they headed around the corner into Magnolia Crescent.

"Do you know those guys?" Danielle asked Harry in a whisper as they walked quickly.

"My cousin, Dudley, is their leader," said Harry.

Danielle slowed down, staring at Harry, surprised to hear this. Before she could respond however, he had already strode fifteen feet ahead, coming within hailing distance of the one called Dudley, who was strolling along at his ease, humming tunelessly.

"Hey, Big D!"

The gang leader turned.

"Oh," he grunted. "It's you."

Danielle lagged behind, as to not be noticed by the gang leader just yet. She wondered how this was going to play out.

"How long have you been 'Big D' then?" said Harry.

"Shut it," snarled Dudley, turning away again.

"Cool name," said Harry, grinning and falling into step beside the one he had said to be his cousin. "But you'll always be Ickle Diddykins to me."

"I said, SHUT IT!" said Dudley, whose ham-like hands had curled into fists. Danielle tensed, ready to step in if necessary.

"Don't the boys know that's what your mum calls you?"

"Shut your face."

"You don't tell _her_ to shut her face. What about 'popkin' and 'Dinky Diddydums,' can I use them then?"

To Danielle's surprise, Dudley said nothing. The effort of keeping himself from hitting Harry seemed to be demanding all his self-control.

"So who've you been beating up tonight?" Harry asked. His grin fading. "Another ten-year-old? I know you did Mark Evans two nights ago—

"He was asking for it," snarled Dudley.

"Oh yeah?"

"He cheeked me."

"Yeah? Did he say you look like a pig that's been taught to walk on its hind legs? 'cause it's not cheek Dud, it's true…"

Danielle saw even from a distance that a muscle was twitching in Dudley's jaw. Harry was looking quite satisfied with himself. She did wonder why the gang leader had not already landed a blow on the scrawny bespectacled kid that was provoking him, though Harry seemed to be handling himself rather well and she herself was enjoying seeing the brawny kid squirm. It reminded her of a jock bully of a similar build from Amity Park who used to always pick on Danny before finding out he had the power that he did.

Wait. Was that why he hadn't already landed a fist in Harry's face? Did he think Harry had something over him that he was scared of?

She continued to quietly follow as the boys turned right down a narrow alleyway she guessed was a shortcut for them. It was empty and much darker than the streets it linked, due to a lack of streetlamps. Their footsteps were muffled between garage walls on one side and a high fence on the other.

"Think you're a big man carrying that thing, don't you?" Dudley said after a few seconds.

"What thing?" asked Harry.

"That—That thing you're hiding."

"Not as stupid as you look, are you Dud? But I s'pose if you were, you wouldn't be able to walk and talk at the same time…"

Harry pulled out the thin wooden stick Danielle remembered seeing him with back at number four that he seemed hesitant in letting the neighbors see him with.

"You're not allowed," Dudley said at once. "I know you're not. You'd get expelled from that freak school you go to."

"How do you know they haven't changed the rules, Big D?"

"They haven't," said Dudley, though he didn't sound completely convinced.

Harry laughed softly.

"You haven't got the guts to take me on without that thing, have you?" Dudley snarled.

"Whereas, you just need four mates to be behind you before you can beat up a ten-year old."

Danielle decided to step in this time and have a bit of fun of her own. "And then get beat up yourself by a foreigner."

Both boys' heads spun in her direction as she walked up to them. She felt great satisfaction in seeing Dudley's face pale in seeing her. "I'm assuming my 'American prat' of a cousin gave you a smack-down you deserved tonight as well."

"No kidding?" Harry asked, looking at Dudley again with a now smug look. "So much for that boxing title you keep banging on about. How old was your opponent anyway? Seven? Eight?"

"He was sixteen for your information," snarled Dudley at Harry, "And he was out cold for twenty minutes after I'd finished with him and he was twice as heavy as you."

Danielle rolled her eyes with a scoff. "Yeah, I'd be more impressed if you said the guy was twice _your_ weight, big boss man. Not that it matters anyway, since I, being smaller than the both of you, already flipped you head-over-heels myself."

Harry looked at her with a perplexed look as if he didn't believe her, but when he looked back at Dudley, seeing that he was going red in the face, he seemed to looked impressed.

"My aunt is a ninth-degree black belt." Danielle explained when noticing Harry's expression. "She…taught me a few tricks."

"And the other American?"

"Her son. My cousin. Same deal."

Dudley looked like he wanted to take a swing at her for mentioning this defeat, but thinking better of it as he turned to Harry.

"Not this brave at night, are you?" sneered Dudley.

"This _is_ night, Diddykins. That's what we call it when it goes all dark like this."

"I mean when you're in bed!" Dudley snarled.

He had stopped walking. Harry stopped too, staring at Dudley. Danielle had also stopped short, warily watching the two boys with curiosity.

"What d'you mean I'm not brave in bed?" said Harry, completely nonplussed. "What—am I supposed to be afraid of pillows or something?"

"I heard you last night," said Dudley breathlessly. "Talking in your sleep. _Moaning_."

"What d'you mean?" Harry said again. Danielle noticed a hint of nervousness in his eyes now.

Dudley gave a harsh bark of laughter then adopted a high-pitched whimpering voice. " 'Don't kill Cedric! Don't kill Cedric!' Who's Cedric—your boyfriend?"

"I—you're lying—" said Harry automatically. Danielle knew he was losing his confidence though.

"Wait, who's Cedric?" Danielle tried to intervene to break the tension that was obviously building.

Dudley continued to taunt, ignoring the girl entirely. " 'Dad! Help me, Dad! He's going to kill me, Dad! Boo-hoo!' "

"Shut up," said Harry quietly, "Shut up, Dudley, I'm warning you!"

" 'Come and help me, Dad! Mum, come and help me! He's killed Cedric! Dad, help me! He's going to— "

Dudley's sentence stopped short as he backed into the alley wall. Harry was pointing the smooth stick directly at Dudley's heart as if it was a hunting knife. Danielle tensed again in seeing this happen. She was normally sure that she'd be able to break up a brawl between two guys, but if Harry really did have powers that would make a big bully like that suddenly back away in terror; she would feel better if Danny was around. She doubted he was within telepathic distance at the moment however. He had said he was going to meet her back at the hotel.

"Don't ever talk about that again," Harry snarled. "D'you understand me?"

"That girl's watching! You'll get in—"

"I said _do you understand me_?"

"Point that thing somewhere else!"

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

"GET THAT THING AWAY FROM—"

Dudley gave an odd, shuddering gasp as if he had been doused in icy water. The star-strewn indigo sky was suddenly pitch-black and lightless—The stars, the moon, the misty streetlamps at either end of the alley had vanished.

Danielle ducked to the ground in a hurry. It was a reflex she had picked up in case someone was ambushing her, which was always likely back home. Everything was silent. Not even the grumble of cars and the whisper of trees could be heard. She felt panic slowly rising inside her, remembering a time she had gone blind. Had it happened again? Had she also gone deaf? Had Harry just done something to the whole alleyway to effect her and his cousin like this?

Suddenly, Dudley's terrified voice broke Danielle's ear, disproving her theory of going deaf.

"W-what are you d-doing? St-stop it!"

"I'm not doing anything! Shut up and don't move! Both of you!" That was Harry. And he sounded as surprised by the sudden silent darkness as she felt. So maybe he wasn't the cause of it.

"Harry, what's going on?" whispered Danielle.

Dudley wasn't caring what anyone else was saying. "I c-can't see! I've g-gone blind! I — "

"I said shut up!" Harry sounded somewhat urgent, as if he knew what this phenomenon meant.

Danielle closed her eyes (though it didn't make much of a difference) and concentrated hard to try and hear something. She noticed a cold, fearful chill creeping around her body. She also started feeling really hot on the inside. She knew this feeling. It was usually what happened when she sensed a ghost was nearby. But it wasn't as strong. And what was with this cold that was being mixed up with it? Danny had an ice power, but this felt much more eerie; Like fear itself was descending upon her.

"I'll t-tell Dad!" Dudley whimpered. "W-where are you? What are you d-do—"

"Will you shut up?" Harry hissed. "I'm trying to lis—"

Harry fell silent and Danielle knew why. She had heard it too. There was something in the alleyway apart from the three teens, something that was drawing long, hoarse, rattling breaths. Danielle felt panic rising inside her as she recalled a time she had faced a beast on the attack while she was blind. This felt somewhat the same, and though she had defeated that monster in the end, she was already feeling hopeless. It was as if the confidence inside her was suddenly sucked out of her with every breath the entity was drawing in.

"C-cut it out! Stop doing it! I'll hit you, I swear I will!"

"Dudley, shut—"

_WHAM_!

Danielle heard a fist make contact with a body and felt someone collide into her from behind, making them both fall to the floor. Then there was the sound of something small and wooden clatter to the ground.

"You moron, Dudley!" Harry yelled. Evidently Harry was the one that was shoved into her. As she struggled to get up from under Harry's weight, she heard Dudley stumbling away.

"DUDLEY, COME BACK! YOU'RE RUNNING RIGHT AT IT!" cried Harry.

Before Danielle could ask what, there was a horrible squealing yell, and Dudley's footsteps stopped. But she though it was closer to _her_? So there was more than one? They were trapped in the alley between two of those things?

"Harry? I think there's one over on _this_ side too!" Danielle said as she used the brick wall to pull herself to her feet.

"GUYS, WHATEVER YOU DO, KEEP YOUR MOUTHS SHUT!" Harry's voice was still coming from closer to the ground, so he must not have gotten up yet.

All right! Danielle decided. I'm not going to let people get hurt just to keep face around here! Having no other choice, she held out her hand, and a torch-sized flame ignited, floating in the palm of her hand, which illuminated the alleyway.

A towering, hooded figure was gliding smoothly toward her, hovering over the ground, no feet or face beneath its robes, sucking on the night as it came. A pair of gray, slimy, scabbed hands slid from inside the creatures robes, reaching for her.

Danielle shrieked in surprise at seeing the dark figure and impulsively directed the flame from her hand at it. With an explosion of heat, the fire smote the robed creature square in the chest, setting its robes aflame. The creature was blown back from the force of the explosion, but to Danielle's astonishment, quickly regained its composure. In fact, as she stared, she saw with every breath the creature took in under its hood, the cold around her was returning and seemed to be overpowering the fire that she thought would surely consume it.

Perhaps it was a bad idea that she and Danny had already separated for the night. She could probably use his help at the moment. But how was she supposed to call him? She hadn't brought a Fenton Phone with her and there was no way he was within telepathic range.

With its whole figure now nearly completely extinguished of the fire Danielle had set to it, the creature began gliding towards her again, stretching forth one of its slimy, scabbed hands.

_Danny! If you can hear me, get over here! _ Danielle called through her mind and kept going back and forth between scanning the skies and concentrating with her eyes shut tight to try and see if she could get an idea of where he was, but she couldn't find herself able to focus the way she thought she normally could. All she was hearing in her head as the creature drew near again was voices that sounded distant, but were familiar. And frightening.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Danielle nearly jumped at the shout of what she thought was a strange language and she wheeled around to see that Harry was on the ground, pointing the wand at the cloaked thing that had been advancing on them. An enormous silver animal with antlers erupted from the tip of the wand. Its antlers caught the black creature in the place where the heart should have been; Danielle watched in awe as it was thrown backward, weightless as darkness, and as the silver entity charged, the robed figure swooped away, bat-like and defeated.

The silver animal had stopped only two feet in front of her. The light it was giving off was so brilliant, she had to squint it to see beyond it. Harry was now looking at her, horrorstruck. He looked between the antlered animal and her, his chest rising and falling with every deep breath he was taking in when his expression changed and he looked behind him as if he had just realized something.

"THIS WAY!" Harry shouted at the dear thing he had summoned. Wheeling around, he sprinted down the alleyway, holding the now lit wand aloft. "DUDLEY? DUDLEY!"

Danielle instinctively ran and had gone barely a few steps when she suddenly stopped, seeing Dudley in the light of Harry's lit wand, curled on the ground. His arms clamped over his face. The second cloaked figure was crouching low over him, gripping his wrists in its slimy hands, prizing them slowly, almost lovingly apart, lowering its hooded head towards Dudley's face, as if about to kiss him…

Danielle wasn't sure what to make of this, but she was about to charge a sphere of ecto energy to throw at the robed monster when Harry beat her to it.

"GET IT!" he bellowed, almost at the same moment, and with a rushing, roaring sound, the silver antlered animal he had conjured went galloping past him. The silver antlers caught the black robed creature; the thing was thrown up into the air and, like its counterpart, it soared away and was absorbed into the darkness. The stag centered to the end of the alleyway and dissolved into silver mist.

Moon, stars, and streetlamps burst back into life. A warm breeze swept the alleyway. Trees rustled in neighboring gardens and the mundane rumble of cars filled the air again.

Danielle blinked, taking in the abrupt return to normality. When she had regained herself, she looked around and saw Harry standing there, breathing hard and dripping in sweat with an expression of utter disbelief.

"Harry!" Danielle called.

He jumped at her voiced and he took several steps back as if afraid of her, making her stop in mid-step, confused.

A quiet whimper came from Dudley's curled figure on the ground, reminding them both of his situation. Harry rushed to him and bent down to see if he was in a fit state to stand. Danielle came up behind him and bent over, putting her hands on her knees as she looked down as the pathetic state the gang leader was reduced to.

"Is he gonna be okay?" asked Danielle.

"I think so," said Harry.

Then he looked up at her as if worried she'd do something drastic. He looked back down the alley where he had seen her standing when he had called forth the silver animal.

Danielle bit her lower lip guiltily. "I wasn't supposed to see that, was I."

Harry sighed heavily, running his hand through his already messy hair.

"I won't tell anyone, if that's what you're worried about." Danielle quickly said.

"It doesn't matter. I'm still dead for this." Harry said miserably.

Just then, both of them heard loud, running footsteps behind them; instinctively raising his wand again, Harry spun on his heel to face the newcomer. Danielle tensed up, doing the same. Was Danny back? Had he heard her after all? Or were those creatures coming back for another round?

An old woman came into sight. Her grizzled gray hair was escaping from its hairnet, a clanking string shopping bag was swinging from her wrist, and her feet were halfway out of her tartan carpet slippers.

"Mrs. Figg!" Harry called, surprised.

Danielle saw as he made to stow his wand hurriedly out of sight but—

"Don't put it away, idiot boy!" Mrs. Figg shrieked. "What if there are more of them around? Oh I'm going to _kill_ Mundungus Fletcher!"

**_Note: If you catch spelling or gramattical errors in this chapter or in any of the others, please refrain from putting them in the reveiws and send them to me by PM instead._**

**_Okay I know. Like I said, word-for-word. It will start getting a little more different as we go more into Danielle's perspective in the next chapter. In the meantime though, I'd like to know what you guys think. If it doesn't get a good response, I'll go ahead and just scrap the whole thing._**


	2. A New World

**_So after getting several reviews that were screaming for me to continue, I decided to post another chapter. Hope you enjoy it. The first part of this chapter is once again almost word-for word, but then it starts getting more into Danielle's point-of-view by the end._**

**_Disclaimer:_****_ I do NOT own Danny Phantom (Except my design of the older version of Danielle) or any of the Harry Potter books or movies_**_._

**Chapter 2: A New World**

"What?" said Harry and Danielle blankly in unison.

"He left!" said Mrs. Figg, wringing her hands. "Left to see someone about a batch of cauldrons that fell off the back of a broom! I told him I'd flay him alive if he went, and now look! Dementors!"

Dementors? Those black robed things that attacked just now?

"It's just lucky I put Mr. Tibbles on the case! But we haven't got time to stand around! Hurry, now, we've got to get you back! Oh, the trouble this is going to cause! I will _kill_ him!"

"But—you're—you're a witch?"

Danielle gave Harry a look but she was surprised that the woman didn't seem offended by what she had thought was an insult.

"I'm a Squib, as Mundungus knows full well, so how on earth was I supposed to help you fight off dementors? He left you completely without any cover when I _warned_ him—"

Danielle was already feeling a bit awkward and confused at what was being exchanged between these two, but she couldn't help but ask, since they seemed to have decided that she was safe. "So this Mundungus guy has been following Harry around?"

"Hang on— it was him! He Disapparated from the front of my house!" said Harry with realization that Danielle was still falling behind in.

Disapperated? In front of his house? Is that what that loud cracking sound was before?

"Yes, yes, yes, but luckily, I'd stationed Mr. Tibbles under a car just in case, and Mr. Tibbles came and warned me, but by the time I got to your house, you'd gone—and now—oh, what's Dumbledore going to say? You!" She shrieked at Dudley, still supine on the alley floor. "Get your fat bottom off the ground, quick!"

"You know Dumbledore?" said Harry staring at her?

"Of course I know Dumbledore, who doesn't know Dumbledore?"

"Who's Dumba…what?" Danielle only felt herself getting even more lost and these two seemed to be talking casually as if they had forgotten she was even there. She had thought she and _Danny_ were the ones that always kept secrets. What in the world where _these_ two in on?

"But come on—" Mrs. Figg went on as if she hadn't heard Danielle, making her a bit annoyed. "I'll be no help if they come back, I've never so much as Transfigured a teabag—"

She stooped down, seized one of Dudley's massive arms in her wizened hands, and tugged.

"Get up you useless lump, get up!"

But Dudley either could not or would not move. He was still on the ground, trembling and ashen-faced, his mouth shut very tight.

"I'll do it." Harry took hold of Dudley's arm and heaved.

"Oh, here! Let me help." Danielle said at once, going to Dudley's other side and taking hold of his other arm.

Harry stared at her for a moment as if he had never seen anything quite like her. She was quite small compared to both him and Dudley, but she was still a surprisingly big help in hoisting Dudley to his feet. Once that happened though, he swayed dangerously, looking on the point of fainting. In fact, he nearly fell right on top of Danielle's slender figure. Harry was once again amazed at how well she was able to hold both herself and Dudley up, despite his cousin's enormous size and weight.

"Hurry up!" said Mrs. Figg hysterically, obviously too busy watching for more dangerous creatures to be bothered by the strange girl that was well within earshot of hers and Harry's every word.

Harry pulled one of Dudley's arms around his shoulders, managing to pull him away from Danielle enough for her to do the same with his other arm and they both dragged him towards the road, sagging slightly under his weight. Mrs. Figg tottered along in front of them, peering anxiously around the corner.

"Keep your wand out," she told Harry, as they entered Wisteria Walk.

Harry looked between Mrs. Figg and Danielle with a disbelieving look. He also seemed to be considering whether or not it was safe for Mrs. Figg to be saying things like this in Danielle's presence.

"She's already seen, hasn't she?" Mrs. Figg said as if reading his mind. "Never mind the Statute of Secrecy now, after what's already happened, we might as well be hanged for a dragon as an egg. Talk about the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery…This is _exactly_ what Dumbledore was afraid of—What's that at the end of the street? Oh it's just Mr. Prentice…Don't put your wand away, boy, don't I keep telling you I'm no use?"

"You're not the only one here who could help, you know." Danielle pointed out, unthinkingly, though, holding back the mention of how Harry seemed to be having trouble keeping a wand steady and carrying a gorilla at the same time already.

Plus, she herself had a few tricks up her sleeve that she now sorely wished she had used earlier. Danielle still wasn't quite sure what was going on, but if Harry using his wand in front of her was causing so much of a fuss, couldn't she have done more to prevent him from having to use it? She wasn't sure why she had suddenly lost her cool while facing those things. She had dealt with terrifying things under pressure before. Was it that she was enjoying going unnoticed for once as the famous hero she was known for back home? She could have Gone Ghost and gotten both boys away from that alley.

Danielle's guilty thoughts had drown out the conversation Harry and Mrs. Figg had been having still but were suddenly pulled back to reality in hearing a loud _crack. _Danielle stopped in mid-step with widened eyes, nearly dropping Dudley in the process and making Harry stumble slightly at the unexpected halt and shift in weight on his side. A strong smell of mingled drink and stale tobacco filled the air as a squat, unshaved man in a tattered overcoat had materialized right in front of them. He had short bandy legs, long straggly ginger hair, and bloodshot baggy eyes that gave him the doleful look of a basset hound; he was clutching a silvery bundle that Danielle blinked at with confusion. She had never seen a kind of cloth quite like that.

"MUNDUNGUS FLETCHER, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" Mrs. Figg bellowed.

"'s' up, Figgy?" Mundungus said, staring from Mrs. Figg to Harry, to Dudley and then Danielle. "What 'appened to staying undercover?"

"I'll give you undercover!" cried Mrs. Figg. "_Dementors_, you useless skiving sneak thief!"

"Dementors?" repeated Mundungus, aghast. "Dementors here?"

"Yes, here, you worthless pile of bat droppings, here!" shrieked Mrs. Figg. "Dementors attacking on your watch!"

"Blimey," said Mundungus weakly, looking from Mrs. Figg to Harry. Then he gave a horrified look at Danielle similar to the one Harry had given her when he saw her standing in the alley after he had summoned the silver beast that had saved them. "Blimey, I…"

"And you off buying stolen cauldrons! Didn't I tell you not to go? _Didn't I?_"

"I—well I—" Mundungus looked deeply uncomfortable. "It…it was a very good business opportunity, see…"

Mrs. Figg raised the arm from which her string bag dangled and whacked Mundungus around the face and neck with it. Danielle noticed that it was making a clanking noise with every whack. What did the lady have in there, rocks? Or was it cans?

"Ouch—gerroff—gerroff, you mad old bat! Someone's gotta tell Dumbledore!"

"Yes—they—have!" yelled Mrs. Figg, still swinging the clanging bag at every bit of Mundungus she could reach. "And—it—had—better—be—you—and—you –can—tell—him—why—you—weren't—there—to—help!"

"Keep your 'airnet on!" said Mundungus, his arms over his head, cowering. "But what about the muggle girl!"

Danielle looked at Harry, who only gave her a side-glance before he looked at the ground.

Mrs. Figg growled viciously, giving Mundungus another good whack over the head with her bag.

"Ouch! I'm going, I'm going!"

And with another _crack_ he vanished.

"I hope Dumbledore _murders_ him!" said Mrs. Figg furiously. "Now, come on, you kids, what are you waiting for?"

Danielle rolled her eyes. She'd like to see that old lady try to carry this bulky idiot around.

"Is she always so bossy?" Danielle whispered to Harry as they both gave the semiconscious Dudley a heave and staggered onward.

Harry only smirked his confirmation.

"I'll take you to the door," said Mrs. Figg, as they turned into Privit Drive. "Just in case there are more of them around…Oh my word, what a catastrophe…and you had to fight them off yourself…and Dumbledore said we were to keep you from doing magic at all costs. …Well, it's no use crying over spilled potion now…"

"So," Harry panted, "Dumbledore's…been having…me followed?"

"Of course he has," said Mrs. Figg impatiently. "Did you expect him to let you wander around on your own after what happened to that poor Diggery boy last year? Goodness boy, they told me you were intelligent…right…now get inside and stay there," she said as they reached number four. "I expect someone will be in touch with you soon enough. Whatever happens, don't leave the house."

Harry was then shoved towards the garden path of number four, looking like he still had more questions, but readjusting Dudley on his shoulders before leading the way.

"This is it?" asked Danielle, recognizing the house. "Home of Mr. Sausage-Fingers that nearly strangled you earlier today?"

Harry looked at her as they were reaching the doorway of number four and he sighed heavily. "So you saw that too, did you."

Danielle saw the misery and frustration on his face. "I'm sorry if I'm prying."

"No. I expect what you saw back there is already a lot to take in. Probably absolutely full of questions."

"I really won't tell anyone." Danielle said at once. "I promise."

Harry looked her in the eyes as if probing for deceit. When he was satisfied that he could find none, he smirked. "I'd appreciate that. Though don't be surprised if you meet up with some people about it later anyway."

Danielle wondered what this meant, but she didn't bother asking as she helped to support Dudley so Harry could finally stow his wand away and open the front door.

"I can take it from here." said Harry as he stepped through the doorway, readjusting Dudley to be ready to support his whole weight now.

"You sure?" asked Danielle, uncertainly, seeing how much more difficult it already was for Harry.

"Yeah. It's best my aunt and uncle don't know you saw what I did back there anyway."

"So they know about your…magic?" Danielle said the last word quietly.

Harry only nodded as he took Dudley fully into the house now.

"Thanks for the help by the way."

Danielle smiled weakly. "Just wish I could have done more."

"Don't worry. It was good to meet you…Danielle, was it?"

Danielle nodded. "Nice meeting you too."

Harry shut the door behind him and Danielle walked gloomily back down the garden path where Mrs. Figg still stood.

"I've only made things worse by being in that alley, haven't I," asked Danielle.

"Well, I can't say you won't be getting Ministry officials at your doorstep some time soon. Although, you're not from Britain are you?"

"No. But if you don't mind me asking, what _were_ those things?"

"What things?"

"Those floating things in the black hoods that attacked us in the alley. Are they some type of ghost? Do people see very much of them here in England?"

Mrs. Figg stared wide-eyed at Danielle. "Black hoods…you mean you actually _saw_ the dementors?

"Who wouldn't?" Danielle shrugged, as if this were obvious.

Mrs. Figg seemed to be considering her for a moment. "Tell me, have you ever heard of a school named Hogwarts?"

"What?" asked a confused Danielle. Who would ever come up with a name like _that_ for a school?

"Well…your accent. You're from the States?"

"Yeah," nodded Danielle.

"Well…how about the American Institute of Magic?"

"The _what_?" Danielle was already figuring this was some kind of a test, but what else was she supposed to do? Where was this woman going with all this?

"Then…how could you have…" Mrs. Figg looked to the side in thought. "Dumbledore may want to know about this too." She mumbled, more to herself than to Danielle.

Danielle had by now given up in trying to figure out who the heck this _Dumbledore_ character was. She figured she had already heard and seen too much to make these people comfortable. And what was going to happen to Harry because of it?

"Well, I'd best be going. Getting late you know." said Mrs. Figg. "Though I suspect someone will be coming to see you for one reason or another very soon."

"Wait, what does that mean?"

But Mrs. Figg had already turned around and started off with a trot, carpet slippers flopping, string bag clanking. As she was swallowed by the darkness, Danielle's keen hearing could barely pick up her muttering something to herself that sounded very much like, "…Muggles…seeing dementors…"

Danielle's shoulders slumped in defeat. She had given up in trying to figure out what 'Muggles' were as well. She took one more look at number four where she heard angry voices coming from the open kitchen window. She resisted the temptation to go invisible and phase into the house to at least make sure everything was all right, but from the looks of things, she had done enough damage already. Besides. Mrs. Figg had been right. With it already being passed nine-thirty, it was getting late and Danny was going to wonder about her if she didn't get back to London soon where their hotel was. Which, from the sound of it, was going to be visited some time soon by some _magical representative_.

Danielle started walking away, channeling the main source of power inside her that allowed her to transform into her alter ego so she could fly back to London; Her fastest and least expensive method of returning to the hotel. A ring of light expanded from her waist, split in two duplicates and moved in opposite directions across her body, changing her physical appearance from the average looking Danielle Fenton with black hair and blue eyes with a blue hooded shirt and red slacks to the ghost-powered Dani Phantom with snow-white hair, green eyes and a white and silver jumpsuit.

Danielle would normally be more careful in making sure that no one was watching when she made this transformation, but she didn't care at this point as she took off from the ground, souring into the starry night sky. She had already gotten someone in trouble by _not_ fully revealing her true self sooner.

She narrowly dodged an owl that was flying by when she came to a high enough altitude to use the technique she called her Plasma Rocket. She bent her knees, charging bright yellow glows that appeared at the bottom of her feet and she pushed off, releasing an ignition from her shoes that boosted her forward at lightning speed. With this technique it barely took her a minute to get to London before she let off the charge, slowing down to 100 miles per hour.

Danielle soon saw the hotel she and Danny were staying at and began her descent. Once she had approached the window she remembered their room being located, she simply turned intangible and phased through the wall. Inside was a comfortable-looking room with two queen-sized beds. Danny was at the desk with a laptop open that they had brought from home. The hotel provided free Internet access.

Danny looked up as she entered and scooted away from the laptop. "There you are. What took you so long? I was starting to think about using the Perspective Search to look for you."

Perspective Search was a technique they had picked up only this summer that, through much concentration, allowed them to see into each other's minds to see what the other was seeing and get an idea of where they were. It, of course, didn't work if either one was asleep or unconscious, but they only used it on each other if they had reason to worry for the other's safety.

"Sorry," said Danielle, gloomily looking at the floor as she transformed back into her casual self and crossed the room to retrieve a suitcase she had stored beneath one of the beds.

"Dani? You okay?" Danny must have caught the dreariness in her voice.

"Just tired," Danielle lied as she opened her suitcase and started rummaging through some of the clothing. "You call Uncle Jack and Aunt Maddie already?"

"Just barely logged off. They want us to call again when we _both_ can talk this time."

After a pause of consideration, Danny asked again in concern. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah." said Danielle, her mind a million miles away as she retrieve a pair of dark blue pajamas from her suitcase. "Listen, I'm just gonna get ready for bed and go to sleep."

"Um…okay. Sure," Danny shrugged hesitantly as he watched her go into the bathroom to change.

00000

Danielle was restless all night. She kept waking up every hour expecting to hear a knock on the door or for a loud cracking noise from which some strange person would suddenly materialize in the middle of the room, like Mundungus had back in Little Whinging. She also kept wondering if more of those dementor things would show up outside the window. Danielle suppressed a shiver in remembering the rattling breath; the slimy, scabbed hands; the cold and the memories simply being near them had brought back…What was she going to do if they showed up again? What else were those things capable of? And why did her ghost-sense seem to get confused when they were close by?

Danielle couldn't tell if she had gotten any sleep by the time sunlight started coming into the room through the window. After getting dressed, she spent the morning reading a book Danny's older sister, Jazz had recommended to her.

Eventually, Danny had woken up in the neighboring bed, took his turn to get ready for the day and ordered room service.

"Huh?" Danielle only vaguely became aware that Danny was talking to her.

"I said, what do you want for breakfast?" Danny repeated.

"Oh. Whatever's fine," Danielle quickly said, returning to the book she really wasn't paying much attention to at the moment.

"Make that a double order for two." Danny said into the receiver of the phone. "Twenty minutes? Okay. Thank you very much. Bye."

Danny hung up the phone and stared at Danielle for a long moment as if considering her. Danielle tried not to think about it. Her eyes ran over the words of the book in her hands, but her mind didn't register their meaning. She couldn't stop herself from listening to the sounds around her and trying to convince herself that what she had witnessed last night was all just a dream. But it was still hard to forget the sound of the breath and the sudden darkness the dementors had brought with them upon her and the two boys in that alleyway.

She knew of the Ghost Zone as another dimension beyond the human reality. The whole possibility of the existence of ghosts was nothing more than the idea of radical believers in the past. What other worlds could there be that existed beyond an ignorant human's understanding? How much did she or Danny or any of her peers back home really know? What wonders…or dangers did those still unknown parts of reality hold?

Suddenly she heard a knock at the door and Danielle bolted upright with a gasp on her bed. Was this the Magical representative she was supposed to be expecting?

"Room service!" A female voice came from the other side of the door.

Danielle let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding but noticed that Danny was staring at her with a cocked eyebrow the whole way to the door to answer it.

Danielle laid back on her pillows, staring up at the ceiling. She could tell Danny was suspecting. The both of them had always been so tight, even though she had only started living with his family in February this year. They always knew when something was bothering the other. Danny seemed to be the one catching it most with her.

Danny came back into view with a tray of breakfast dishes, having signed the required voucher to pay for it already. He set it down on Danielle's bed between the two of them, but before Danielle could reach for anything on the tray, Danny sat folding his arms with an expectant look.

Here it comes. Danielle thought.

"All right, I think it's about time you told me what's up." said Danny.

Called it.

"Did something happen last night? And don't try to pull one over on me, you know it never works. You came back really late last night looking like Sam's gothic influence had rubbed off on you, barely caring that you missed the call from home and you've been jumpy all morning. What's the deal?"

Danielle sighed heavily, looking off to the side.

"Have you been dreaming about Vlad again?" asked Danny

"No, no." Danielle said truthfully, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

Vlad was a well-known enemy with similar powers to their own that had long since disappeared two years ago and was never heard from since. Though she had greatly feared the possibility of his return for the longest time, recent experience had given her more confidence in the matter. Though she _had_ remembered things that had happened between the two of them during the dementor attack, which she had promised Harry that she wouldn't tell anyone about.

She also knew that there was no way she could hide everything from Danny though. She would have to tell him _something_ sooner or later. But how was she supposed to even start? And how much would be safe to tell before having to deal with more than what she would already have to with…whatever was going to happen…just for being in that alley last night?

Danny waited patiently, pushing the tray further to Danielle, offering her the contents while they were still hot. There was a pause before Danielle took a strip of bacon and took a bite as she thought for a moment.

"Danny?" she finally began after she swallowed. "Have you ever wondered if, there were things about the world that we still don't know about?"

Danny cocked an eyebrow. "Well, sure. There are a lot of things I'm sure _I_ don't know."

"I'm not just talking about ghost stuff."

Danny poured some syrup on one of the plates of pancakes, taking a second to glance at Danielle to show that he was still listening.

"What if there was a whole other plane of existence other than the Ghost Zone that we don't know about?"

"Why?" Danny stopped short. After a pause he leaned forward with eagerness. "Wait, are you saying the ghost problem the Prime Minister called us out for isn't done yet?"

"I don't know." Danielle said, looking down at the tray with a saddened but concerned look. "But I _did_ see and hear things last night that probably wasn't a good idea for me to see. And I think I got someone in trouble for it. Someone who's part of something big that they don't want normal people to know about."

Danny bit his lower lip and Danielle could tell that he had held back a comment that probably would have been something like, 'Well, we're not normal, are we?' but thought better of it as she saw him debating in his head on what to make of the information she had just given.

Just then, the both of them were alerted to a knock at the door. Danielle's heart skipped a beat. Was that them this time?

Danny looked between Danielle and the door, already picking up a connection with her reaction to it. "What else?" he asked pressingly.

Danielle lowered her voice, sucking in a breath. "Someone was supposed to come and talk to me about what I saw. I promised I wouldn't tell, but I don't… They seem to have a type of power I've never seen before in either the Ghost Zone or the human world. I have no idea what to expect."

Both cousins turned at the sound of a repeated knock. Danny took a cautionary glance at Danielle as he slowly got up from the bed and walked to the door. He put his hand on the knob and with one last anticipatory glance at Danielle, he turned it and slowly opened the door enough to peak his head out.

On the other side of the door was a very tall, elderly man wearing midnight-blue robes and a lofty pointed hat. He had a long silver beard and wore half-moon spectacles on his crooked nose.

"Good morning, young chap. I wonder if I could speak with miss, Danielle Fenton, if I've heard correctly." The man said with a smile.

"Who's asking? And how did you get this room number?" Danny asked cautiously.

"My name is Albus Dumbledore. I'm an acquaintance of the good Arabella Figg who informed me of circumstances surrounding events in Little Whinging 12 hours ago."

"Is something wrong?" inquired Danny.

"That is best not discussed here. If you'll allow me to enter, I will be able to explain more fully."

Danny looked back at Danielle, who was getting more nervous by the minute. Then, as if having read both their thoughts, Dumbledore said, "I promise I will not bring harm to her. I simply wish to ask a few questions."

There was a thoughtful pause in which Danny looked towards his younger cousin again, who nodded her approval.

Danny opened the door all the way and stepped aside for Dumbledore to enter. The man looked around the hotel room with an observant eye before his eyes rested on Danielle who stood up from the bed.

"Ah. I take it you're the young lady I've been told of."

"Guess so," answered Danielle nervously.

Dumbledore gestured towards the chair that was at the computer desk. "May I?"

"Oh. Yeah. Sure."

After both Dumbledore and Danielle had situated themselves on either the chair or the edge of one of the beds, Danny sat down protectively beside Danielle.

"So. Ms. Fenton." Dumbledore began. "Have you, by any chance, shared information of what you had seen happen yesterday evening?"

"No." Danielle said at once. "Well…I've mentioned it to my cousin Danny here, but no one else. And I trust him with my life several times over."

"Thank you. Yes it would be helpful to not let certain information reach too many Muggle ears."

Danny screwed up his face. "Muggle?"

"It's the term we use for people who don't use magic." clarified Dumbledore before he looked over the top of his half-moon spectacles with a curious look directly at Danielle. "At least…not the type of magic, _we_ know."

Danielle shifted uneasily, feeling as if the man's eyes were probing her for some deep mystery. Danny noticed this exchange and stepped in.

"Look. Whatever, she might have seen last night, or whatever you guys may have thought about her after that, I'm sure she didn't mean harm by it."

"I have no doubt of your trustworthiness, lad." Dumbledore reassured, not taking his eyes off the girl. "But there are certain things about the events of last night that bear explaining. Ms. Fenton. If you would be so kind as to explain in detail what you had seen other than the good Mr. Potter casting his Patronus Charm…"

"You mean that silver animal he called to chase those black things away?"

"Yes. The dementors. What exactly did you notice of them?"

The Fenton children looked at each other for a second before Danielle took a minute to think.

"Well…they were definitely creepy. They were really tall and had black cloaks that always had their hoods up. Just the weird rattling sound in their breathing was enough to give me chills, but when I lit up the area to see them…the way they floated towards us..."

"Floated?" Danny inquired. After a quick look at Dumbledore, he then added telepathically, _Where they ghosts?_

_I don't know _what_ they were, Danny._ Danielle barely caught herself from responding out loud in exasperation. _My ghost sense couldn't pick them up the way it normally would. If they were ghosts, they're not any type of ghost I've ever encountered before._

Dumbledore looked between the two teenagers as if suspecting some secret code through their behavior. He stroked his long beard in thought before looking at Danielle again in question. "Did you also notice anything about the way you _felt_ around the dementors?"

"Uh…Well…" Danielle hesitated. She really didn't like to recall that part of the experience. "Before they showed up, everything suddenly went dark and cold. And…the closer they got…the more I felt like…I just got so sad…and scared. I kept hearing sounds and voices that reminded me of…things that happened…that I've been trying to forget..." Danielle lost the remainder of her words as she shivered.

Danny gave her a side-hug, rubbing the outside of her arm.

"What do you want with my cousin, Mr. Dumbledore?" He demanded, glaring at the man as if blaming him for his cousin's discomfort.

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, lacing his long fingers together and considering Danielle with interest. "This is a very interesting development indeed. So it was no exaggeration on the part of Arabella. Not only could you feel the effects of the dementors, but you actually _heard_ and _saw_ them."

"Does that matter?" asked Danielle after shoving the horrible memories back out of her head.

"Well, you see, young lady, it was our understanding that muggles shouldn't be able to see dementors at all." The Fenton's looked at each other with surprise before Dumbledore continued. "Which tells me that there is something special about you that somehow sets you apart from other muggles and allows you to see dementors as they are. Possibly many other things that we of the Wizarding World normally make a conscious effort to conceal."

"And…that's a…bad thing, sir?" asked Danielle.

"Well, the effects the dementors have on _anyone_, magical or not, I'm sure we can _all_ do without. We who can see them bare a responsibility in knowing what they can do so we can defend against them. They are considered to be amongst the foulest creatures, even among wizard-kind. If we allowed it, they would infest the whole Earth, spreading decay and filth wherever they went as they fed off your emotions, leaving you with nothing but the memories and feelings of the worst experiences of your life."

Danielle stared at Dumbledore for a moment as she took this in. Then she looked down at the floor, re-evaluating last night's encounter with this new enlightenment.

"I thought I was just getting scared but…so _that's_ why I was feeling so…"

Danielle's voice trailed off as her thoughts took over. Was that why she had panicked when faced with them? Why she felt so helpless so fast in seeing them and so slow to react? Could those effects have been much worse if it weren't for her ghost half? Come to think of it, why hadn't she thought to turn intangible? Perhaps the effects she had been feeling would have gone away and she'd have been able to focus better.

"I wouldn't necessarily consider your ability to see them as a bad thing." Dumbledore's voice snapped Danielle out of her reverie and she looked up again. "I _do_ however find it quite curious." Dumbledore leaned forward in his chair, giving Danielle that inquisitive look again. "If you have never gained awareness of our world, then do you happen to know of what it might be that makes you different from other muggles?"

Danielle pursed her lips as she, once again, exchanged a look with Danny who then looked Dumbledore in the eyes as if he himself was probing for any signs of deviousness. When he found none, the next look the cousins exchanged was one of agreement.

"Well…" Danielle began. Dumbeldore was at the edge of his seat now as if his curiosity was at its peak in noticing that Danielle might unravel some great secret. "This is just a theory, but…I'm guessing it has something to do with my ghost powers."

"Ghost powers?"

"Both Danny and I have…physical traits that give us a variety of supernatural abilities."

"Really?" Dumbledore seemed quite fascinated now. "Might I have a demonstration?"

Danielle paused for a second before Danny butted in. "I'd like to make this _sharing of secrets_ thing a mutual agreement first."

Danielle looked at Danny in surprise wondering how the bearded man was going to take this, but to her relief, Dumbledore looked at him with interest.

"If we show you the kinds of things _we're_ capable of, can we be promised a return demonstration?"

Dumbledore smiled at Danny as he stroked his beard again. "Very well."

With that and an approving nod from Danny, Danielle stood up. "Just, try not to freak out…okay?"

Dumbledore nodded casually and Danielle closed her eyes in concentration. A flash of light occurred as the transformation ring of light expanded from her waist and changed her appearance to her white-haired, white and silver clad persona. When her eyes opened again, they glowed bright green.

Dumbledore straightened up in his chair, looking Danielle's new appearance up and down. The teenage girl took this time to ignite her hands with glowing yellow ecto energy that she shaped into a protective dome around her that disperse after a few seconds. She then jumped from the floor, hovering at least a foot off the ground before turning invisible. Dumbledore searched around the room trying to spot her as she swooped around behind him.

"Over here." She said, tapping his shoulder before turning perceptible again as he spun around to face her.

Dumbledore laughed before she made herself intangible and flew straight through the wall and back, having several more goes at the ceiling and floor as well. Dumbledore let out another hearty laugh and applauded as he watched her come from the back wall, walk right through the bed to where she had started, and change back to her human self as a conclusion of her demonstration.

"Excellent! Most impressive!"

"You take it a lot better than a lot of people did back home, Mr. Dumbledore." Danny said with a smile.

"And here I thought Wizards were the one's keeping all the secrets." Dumbledore commented, lacing his fingers together.

Danielle sat herself on the edge of the bed next to Danny again, unable to hold back a barely visible smile in flattery.

"So the _both_ of you have these powers?" asked Dumbledore eagerly.

"Danny's had them longer than I have. He's also the one more well-known where we come from."

Danny scoffed and shook his head, obviously embarrassed.

"So muggles are aware of these talents of yours?"

"Mostly in America, it seems." Danny was the one who responded this time. "Over _here_, they haven't been recognizing us as well, if at all, which we _really_ don't mind."

"Yeah, not getting mobbed every two minutes in public has been pretty nice."

"But anyway." Danny looked at Dumbledore expectantly.

"Ah yes. As agreed, I owe _you_ a demonstration."

With that, the man pulled a wand from the inside pocket of his robes. The Fentons watched as Dumbledore gave it a wave and a whole, round table complete with two padded chairs and a tablecloth materialized right before their eyes. Seconds later, candlesticks and napkins appeared and set themselves in place on the tabletop.

Danny whistled in awe and Danielle blinked with a smile.

"Cool." Both said in unison, nodding.

"I imagine that hearty-looking breakfast of yours is getting a bit cold." Dumbledore pointed out with a nod towards the tray the two teens just remembered they had left abandoned on the neighboring bed.

Danny quickly got up to retrieve it and Danielle walked over to the table-set testing the true solidity of the chairs before sitting down in one of them. After placing the tray on the table, Danny sat next to her and Dumbledore stood up from the computer chair.

"Had I known I was interrupting your meal, I would have come at a later time. I do hope my intrusion is not of too much inconvenience."

"Nah." Danielle said, finding that she was actually beginning to like the Wizard. "But, I'm afraid we only ordered enough for the two of us by the time you got here, so…"

"Oh, I can manage." Dumbledore said, taking out his wand again. "If I may."

Danielle nodded her approval in an instant, eager to see more magic. Danny bobbed his head to the side in agreement.

Dumbledore smiled and gave his wand another wave. A third padded chair appeared across from where the Fenton cousins sat. With another small wave, a wine glass and a full bottle appeared before him in midair. The bottle uncorked itself and poured a portion of its contents into the glass before both bottle and glass set themselves gently down on the table. He took a seat in the new chair he had conjured and with another wave of his wand, Dumbledore made the bottle vanish. Then he raised his glass in a toast towards them and then took a sip from it.

It was all Danielle could to do keep herself from squealing like an enthusiastic fan-girl from Amity Park that may have caught Danny looking in her direction. As Danielle was pouring syrup over the pancakes Danny had ordered for her, she bit her lower lip in thought. "I _am_ still wondering what exactly you came to see me about though, Mr. Dumbledore."

"Professor, actually." Dumbledore politely corrected before taking another sip of his wine.

"Right. Sorry. But… I thought I was going to be visited about seeing Harry use magic, not about being able to see dementors without it. I mean, you can't have come all this way just to have me show off."

"You're sharp for your age." Dumbledore set his glass down. "Yes. You see, under normal circumstances, it is custom for the Ministry of Magic to go on the scene to modify the memories of witnessing muggles to have no recollection of seeing magic being used." Danielle's eyes widened and she looked at Danny with a bit of concern. Magic that could modify the minds of other people sounded a bit scary. "However, this is not under normal circumstances and I am _not_ from the Ministry of Magic. In fact the Ministry seems to have already lost sight of the fact that there was more than one Muggle on the scene. It seems you had left faster than they could properly trace." Danielle remembered having used her Plasma Rocket to get back to the hotel faster. "I suspected it to have had something to do with your place of residence not being in Little Whinging, but now I think it may also have had something to do with your…"

"Abnormality?" Danny finished for him when his sentence faded off.

"So what _is_ going to happen to me then?" asked Danielle hesitantly. "And what about Harry? Is he in trouble?"

"He was about to be expelled from the school of which I am headmaster, but I faced the Minister on his behalf and managed to prevent it for the time-being. Though young Harry will still have to face a formal hearing on the twelfth of this month."

"He has to go to _court_?" said Danielle, outraged. "For using magic in front of me, to defend himself against those—And he could still get expelled? That's not fair!"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled in delight as if he liked how the two of them were responding. "My thoughts on the matter exactly."

"But what does this have to do why you're seeing _me_, professor?"

"That, you may find is the interesting part, now that I have a better understanding of what you're capable of."

The Fentons looked at each other. After taking a bite of her pancakes, Danielle leaned forward.

Dumbledore's eyes shifted to either side before he leaned over the table a ways as if about to share a very important secret. "You see, we of the Wizarding World are currently facing a crisis in which a particularly evil and dangerous wizard has returned to power. I am part of a secret society within the Wizarding World called The Order of the Phoenix, whose sole purpose is to fight against Lord Voldemort.

Danielle starred for a moment. "And…you want me to join this society of yours?"

"Well, not necessarily _join_. Despite your talents, there are still some rules that must be abided by. However, given those same talents you, and perhaps your cousin both, could become valuable assets to our cause, should you decide to assist."

"Well, what could we do?" asked Danny.

Dumbledore finished his glass of wine and set it down again. "Oh, I have a few ideas, but I'm afraid I've said all I can for now." He stood up getting ready to leave. "I'll have to get back with some other members of the Order before I can tell you much more."

The Fentons, having finished their breakfast, stood up from their chairs. Danielle took the tray off the table and put it on the bed. Dumbledore used his wand once again to make the table, chairs and wine all disappear with a flourish.

"However, the Order will likely call again soon. Give you some time to think it over a bit."

"Can I get an exact date and time I can expect this appointment this time?" Danielle asked with a smirk as she, Danny and Dumbledore began walking towards the door.

"I'm afraid even _I_ am not certain of that. I can only ask you to be on the lookout." They reached the door and Danny opened it to let Dumbledore through. "Until then, I bid the two of you, good day." Dumbledore tipped his hat towards the two of them. "It was a pleasure meeting you both."

With that, he spun on his heal and strode away down the hall, leaving the Fentons with a mixture of disbelief, nervousness, and excitement at the possibilities that were now suddenly ahead of them.

**_Please note! If you find any spelling or grammar errors I may have missed in the editing process, please refrain from putting those in the reviews and just bring them to my attention through a PM._**

**_So what did you guys think? Enjoyed it enough that it's still worth continuing? If so, I'll warn you right now that it's going to take a lot more time before the next chapter. I'm still trying to work out a few complications in the combination of the worlds._**

**_Anyway. If you would tell me what you thought of this chapter and the idea of the story in general, that would be great._**


	3. Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place

_**Note: A new section of this chapter has now been added.**_

_**Well, people seem to like this enough to want more, so I guess I'm continuing. This one, especially towards the middle, was a bit more of a rush job to start getting to the better stuff I was more excited to write about. Still, I hope you enjoy.**_

**Chapter 3: Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place**

"You sure you can't tell us anything else?" Maddie Fenton said from the monitor of the Fenton cousin's laptop.

"Sorry, mom." Danny replied regretfully. "These people seem to be as big about keeping their secrets as _we_ were back in the day. I'm not sure they'd be too happy with us saying any more than that."

It had been four days since Dumbledore's visit. The Fenton cousins had spent most of their time at the hotel instead of exploring Britain like the original plan was. Whenever they did go out, one of them was always at the hotel and both always remembered to have Fenton Phones on their persons in case someone came to see them.

Both of them were currently in their hotel room talking with a slender-faced woman with short brown hair and soft eyes that was Danny's mother over video email.

"Fair enough." Maddie said with a disappointed and very concerned look. "But whatever this new business is, just promise me you two will be careful."

"It doesn't look like we're on any 'most-wanted' list here, mom. I'm sure we'll be fine." Danny said with a scoff.

"We may end up staying longer than we thought though. We'll try to check back in the next few days." Danielle concluded before Danny logged off of the video email.

Afterwards, he and Danielle looked at each other with uncertainty. It was the truth that they were not being the ones targeted as far as they knew, but how much did they _really_ know? Dumbledore hardly gave them much more than an introduction into a world of magic they never even knew existed. They had plenty of experience having to deal with people who couldn't accept what was different from what they considered normal. If people of this secret world were already getting suspicious of their abnormality, what could become of it?

It was after dark of this fourth day that the cousins eventually heard a knock at the door of their hotel room.

"You think it's _them_?" Danny asked, quietly.

"We haven't ordered room service in the last hour." Danielle put in with a shrug.

Danielle had been feeling more curious now than scared since the time Dumbledore had visited them, but Danny was still the one to get up and answer the door. When he opened it, he saw a tall, thin man wearing dark robes. He had a thin, sallow face with a prominent nose and greasy black hair. When he set eyes on Danny, he looked somewhat surprised but then looked over his appearance with a sneer that Danielle didn't understand, nor liked.

"Professor Severus Snape of Hogwarts: Sent from Albus Dumbledore to collect the Fenton children." He said slowly in a monotone and unimpressed voice.

"Wait. _Collect_?" asked Danielle as she approached from behind Danny where they exchanged puzzled looks.

"Time is short." Severus Snape said curtly. "I suggest packing your things and checking out of this facility as soon as possible." With that, Snape spun on his heel and proceeded to the stairs, leaving the Fentons staring after him in confusion.

"Okaaaaaaaaaaaay." Danielle said slowly, not sure of what else to say.

Danny closed the door with a snap. "Nice guy." He said sarcastically. "Wonder why the hurry. And it's already after eight. We're going to have to pay for an extra night at this hotel with how late it is already."

Danielle shrugged before striding over to her bed and pulling her suitcase out from under it. "It sounded like we better just do as he says though."

With that, Danny quickly changed into his ghost form, which consisted of a black and white jumpsuit and having green eyes and snow-white hair that matched Danielle's ghost persona. Once transformed, he began flying around the room, collecting all his own possessions and dropping them in his suitcase as he past over it. Danielle ended up doing the same when she noticed how much faster this method was, only she, unlike Danny, made the effort to organize her belongings in her own suitcase better before closing it. They had their luggage packed, the room cleaned up and everything turned off within less than five minutes before they got down to the lobby, wheeling their suitcases behind them.

Severus Snape was sitting in a chair across from the front desk when he saw them coming out of the elevator and stood up. Danielle saw him look at the clock and then back at them as if surprised at how fast they had finished, though his face was relatively expressionless.

"So why the rush?" Danielle asked Professor Snape as Danny was at the front desk, turning in their room keys and checking out of the hotel.

Snape didn't respond before Danny returned to the pair of them.

"We'll be off then." He simply said as he spun on his heel and headed for the door.

Danny and Danielle glanced at each other before falling in step behind him. Snape opened the door for them to pass through and they were walking along the beautifully lit Main Street in the next instant. A slight breeze played with Danielle's long bangs as they followed Snape at a hurry.

"I had been informed that you have your own methods of concealing yourselves," said Snape, not even looking at them as he continued his stroll. "I suggest using them at this time."

"You mean no proper introductions? No plan of action? No explanations?" Danielle asked, slowing her pace. "This 'collecting' is starting to feel more like a kidnapping, Professor Snape."

Snape slowed to a stop and turned to face them, his face still unresponsive and unreadable.

"Come to think of it, how do we know you really are from Dumbledore?" asked Danielle suspiciously as she and Danny also stopped walking. "How do we know you're not working for the Dark Wizard guy he warned us about?"

Snape piqued an eyebrow before facing them squarely.

"Dumbledore hadn't mentioned that you might be cynical. I have no way of proving my trustworthiness to you and personally I have no idea what the headmaster would want with two '_gifted'_ Muggles in the Order. If I wished to harm you however, I assure you, I would have done so whether or not you opened your door to me. There are spells within our world that can go as far as killing instantaneously. Further, if I am not the one to retrieve you, someone else that may have heard of your abilities, or else your association with the Potter boy, most certainly will."

Danny and Danielle looked at each other doubtfully before Danny turned back to Snape.

"And who else may have heard, I wonder?" he asked, eyeing Snape incredulously.

Snape simply stared at them a moment. "I urge you again to conceal yourselves at once." He repeated.

Danny sighed and shared a decisive glance with Danielle before they checked that no one else was looking, took each other's hands and made themselves invisible, along with their luggage. Snape blinked and his eyes shifted around, confused. This became a sigh that Dumbledore must have only hinted what Danielle had demonstrated to him four days ago. That, or Snape had only heard of it from some other source that wasn't meant to hear. Danielle wasn't sure which one could be more likely.

"Lead the way, then," said Danny quietly, but still loud enough for Snape to hear.

Snape furrowed his brow in response before he turned with a whip of his cloak and started heading down the street again. Snape took such long strides that the kids nearly had to start jogging to keep up with him. They were even tempted to just Go Ghost and fly alongside him instead. It would have also been easier for them in carrying their luggage, as their ghost forms had ten times their human strength.

They found that they did eventually have to Go Ghost when Snape decided to get on a bus, still telling them to stay invisible. Paying the driver triple for one passenger and leaving two seemingly empty seats open would have seemed suspicious, so the cousins had no choice but to fly along the outside of the bus. Upon reaching a neighborhood they had never ventured to before, Snape finally got off.

"Signal if you're still here." Snape said in the corner of his mouth after the bus had left him at the stop.

"Right behind you." Danielle replied, still invisible on his right.

"This way," said Snape in a low voice as he strode ahead.

It was another ten minutes before they reached a small, run-down, yet still inhabited square called Grimmauld Place.

_Charming_. Danielle commented telepathically to Danny, observing the broken windows and peeling paint of several of the surrounding houses.

Snape led them across the street where he stopped on the sidewalk between number eleven and thirteen.

"Quickly," said Snape, holding a piece of paper in his hand behind his back for them to take. "Read and memorize."

Danielle wondered if he would have shoved it into their hands had he been able to see them. She took the paper and unfolded it. In the dim light of the street lamp, she read in narrow handwriting,

_The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London._

"But there _is_ no twelve." Danny commented in a whisper Danielle heard from over her shoulder.

Danielle looked at the numbering of the houses along the sidewalk and found that Danny was indeed correct. There was number ten, eleven, but no twelve before the thirteen. That was odd.

"Quiet." said Snape in a warning whisper. "Give back the note."

Confused, Danielle put the note back in Snape's hand. He took out a wand, pointing it at the paper and it burst into flame, curling and drifting to the ground.

"Now think about what you just—"

"Oh wait. There it is." Danny interrupted, sounding surprised.

Danielle had already caught on. As soon as she had thought of _number twelve, Grimmauld Place_, a battered door emerged out of nowhere between numbers twelve and thirteen, followed swiftly by dirty walls and grimy windows. It was as though an extra house had inflated, pushing those on either side out of its way. Danielle looked through the window of number eleven where a stereo had been playing the whole time, unchangingly. Had the people in the other houses not even noticed?

"Whoa." said the Fentons in unison.

"So you see it." said Snape. "Come."

With that, he walked right up to the door of the newly materialized house with the kids in close step behind him; both gaping up at the house the whole way. Once at the door, Danielle noticed that there was no keyhole.

Snape tapped the door with his wand and Danielle heard a series of clicks and the clatter of what sounded like a chain on the other side before the door creaked open.

"Inside."

The Fentons stepped over the threshold into almost complete darkness and a damp, dusty, sweetish, rotting smell. Snape slowly began closing the door behind them, snuffing out the last of the light coming from the street lamps outside. Danielle had half a mind to turn intangible in case he had plans to suddenly round on them in the dark.

Then a hissing noise could be heard and old-fashioned gas lamps sputtered to life along the walls, casting a flickering insubstantial light over the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long, gloomy hallway. A cobwebby chandelier glimmered overhead and age-blackened portraits hung, crooked on the wall. Both the chandelier and the candelabra on a rickety table nearby were shaped like serpents and upon the second glance, Danielle was surprised to notice that the figures inside the portraits were moving.

"You may reveal yourselves now and proceed through the doorway at the end of the hall." instructed Snape from behind them as he was stowing away his wand with which he had likely used to light the lamps just now.

"Finally." said Danielle, letting out a breath as she and Danny faded into visibility with their luggage in tow.

"So what's at the end of the hall?" asked Danny, staring at the door ahead.

Snape turned from having locked the front door and frowned, looking down his nose at Danny. "You remind me of one of my students that I find arrogant and cheeky. Do you always question what you're told?"

Danny turned to face him with a roll of his eyes. "Only when suddenly dragged out of our hotel room by a complete stranger that sneered at me as soon as I opened the door. Not to mention that so kindly informed me of deadly powers in a way that sounded almost like a threat. Under the circumstances, you can't blame me for being slightly suspicious."

"Danny!" whispered Danielle warningly. She was getting the idea that this man was not the kind you would want to provoke. Then she added telepathically, _Maybe he's not telling us anything because he's scared of the powers _we_ have. We don't know what Dumbledore's said about us._

Danny gave her a look, showing her that he had heard and then looked down at the floor in consideration that she might be right.

Snape piqued an eyebrow at the expressions being exchanged between the two children when all three of them turned at the sound of the door at the end of the hall opening.

"Ah, Severus. You've arrived with the children." Albus Dumbledore himself came and saw them. "I trust you're journey went well?"

Snape hardly responded as Dumbledore approached them, beaming and put a hand on a shoulder of each of the two children.

"At the end of the hall is the meeting-place for the Order of the Phoenix. Everyone is awaiting you beyond the door."

"You're leaving, headmaster?" said Snape in his monotone voice.

"Harry should be arriving soon and I have matters to attend to elsewhere."

Danny and Danielle exchanged looks at this information before Dumbledore turned to them and steered them by the shoulder towards the door down the hall.

"In the meantime, you'll find that people have been most anxious to meet you."

With that, as the Fentons headed towards the door, dragging their luggage, Dumbledore went out through the entrance they had just come through.

Once finally through the door, they were greeted by several people that were circled around a table in the center of what appeared to be a kitchen.

"Ah, hello. Here, let me get those for you." A man with shaggy dark hair stood up with a smile and took their suitcases from them.

When he had moved to the side, several red-haired people approached them in greeting as Snape was coming in behind them and shutting the door.

"You must be the kids Dumbledore told us about." The younger man with the long red hair tied back in a ponytail said, shaking both of their hands. "Bill Weasley. And these are my parents, Arthur and Molly." He indicated the red-haired couple behind him; the man being tall, balding and wearing horn-rimmed glasses and the woman being short and lumpy.

"Nice to meet you." Danielle responded pleasantly before being approached by the father who looked rather excited.

"So the two of you are Muggles? I've never actually been able to talk freely with one before. Perhaps you could answer a few questions for me that I've been…"

"Not now Arthur." The shaggy headed man intervened, having stored their luggage in an unseen area.

"And you've already met our host, Sirius Black." Bill pointed out.

"This is your house?" Danielle asked, looking around the decaying place after shaking Sirius's hand.

"I know it's not much. My house-elf hasn't really done much to improve it." said Sirius with a shrug as well as a bitter look at the mention of the house-elf. "Not particularly fond of the place myself, but it's at least safe for headquarters. We've been doing our best to clean it up more in our spare time."

"Spare time that is not in our schedule at the moment." Snape interrupted from a corner of the room. "I believe we have business to discuss before the night is up."

"Business that will be involving these two children, as Dumbledore has said himself, _Snivellus_." Sirius said, shooting Snape an annoyed look. Danielle noticed Snape's return expression was a very distasteful one.

"Oh, but surely not everything. They're so young." said Mrs. Weasley. "How old are the two of you anyway?"

"Eighteen," said Danny.

"Fifteen," answered Danielle.

"Really? You look much younger than that," said Mr. Weasley.

In hearing a clicking of silverware, Danielle looked behind Bill to see a short, ginger-haired man she recognized, rummaging through a drawer like a thief up to no good.

"Hey! You're that other guy I met in Harry's neighborhood." Danielle said, making the Wizard turn. It was Mundungus Fletcher: The one Mrs. Figg said was supposed to be on watch duty when the dementors had attacked.

"Blimey, is the Muggle girl!" Mundungus cried out, surprised, backing against the cupboards and making some pots fall with a clatter to the floor.

"Nice to see you again too," said Danielle, putting her hands on her hips, frowning.

"So you've met Mundungus Fletcher already," said Sirius.

"Saw him suddenly appear out of nowhere _after_ the dementors attacked us."

"So it's true. You really can see dementors?" asked Bill with interest.

"I'm under the impression it's the reason we're here." Danielle shrugged.

"Speaking of which, I suppose we'd best get the meeting started." concluded Mr. Weasley, clapping his hands together. Sirius rolled his eyes before giving Snape another look as if suspecting cheek from him any minute.

"Have a seat, dears," said Mrs. Weasley, indicating two empty chairs around the table they were beginning to gather around. That was when a disturbance in the hall was heard that turned her head in the direction of the door.

"Oh. Must be the advance guard returning with Harry. I'll go get it."

With that, Mrs. Weasley departed from the room.

Danielle tried to get a peak outside the door at the new arrivals as Mrs. Weasley went out, but she was at the wrong angle to be looking down the hall and the door was shut before she could get a proper look. A few minutes later, several more people came through the door. The first being a young, but ill and tired looking man with patched and shabby robes. The next was a woman with a pale face, dark twinkling eyes, and short spiky pink hair. Then a bald, black wizard with a single gold hoop in his hear, followed by a man with long, grizzled gray hair, a huge chunk missing from his nose, and mismatched eyes: One of them being abnormally large, electric blue and constantly looking all over the room before resting on the Fentons, shifting up and down their appearances in an analytical way. Several others filed in behind them before the door was closed.

"Ooh. So _you're_ the special kids Dumbledore talked about." The pink-haired girl said, looking at the two kids energetically. "Pleasure to meet you. Tonks is the name."

"Tonks?" asked Danielle.

"Interesting." Danny commented.

"Well, her real name is Nymphadora—"

"Lupin!"

"—But she prefers to be called by her surname, Tonks."

"That's twice in one night!" said Tonks with a roll of her eyes and a groan.

"By the way. Remus Lupin." Lupin presented his hand, which the cousins shook in turns.

"Kingsley Shacklebolt," said the tall, black man.

"Alastor Moody," said the one with the weird eye.

"Also known as _Mad-Eye Moody_." Tonks put in.

_I can see why._ Danny thought to Danielle mentally, looking at the big round eyeball that was still whizzing around in its socket, unceasingly.

The other adults were introduced as well before everyone finally sat down and Mrs. Weasley came back, shutting the door behind her.

"Well now. Where shall we begin?" Mr. Weasley asked, looking directly at the Fentons.

Danielle looked at him, wondering why he was asking _her_.

"Dumbledore had told us that you have certain…_special_ _talents_, but you were never aware of the existence of magic." said Mr. Weasley after noticing her expression.

"Well, he didn't really tell _us_ much either to be honest." Danielle shrugged. "Just that a pretty dangerous person is on the loose and that this organization of yours is trying to stop him."

"He didn't tell you anything else?"

"Well…I overheard that he's been having Harry followed and that _that_ guy—" she indicated Mundungus Fletcher, "—was supposed to have been keeping an eye on him before the dementors came out of nowhere."

Mrs. Weasely shot a deadly look at Mundungus, who shrank in his seat with his eyes shifting nervously as if afraid she would start hitting him across the head the way Mrs. Figg did back in Little Whinging.

"So why all the fuss about Harry?" asked Danny. "Or do you _always_ make it a point to stalk people?"

"You mean you don't know about Harry Potter?" asked Bill, looking surprised.

Danielle shrugged defensively. "We're not exactly from around here, and we were only told about this underground world of yours a few days ago."

"My godson is quite famous in our society," said Sirius proudly.

"Voldemort's fall came about _because_ of Harry Potter fourteen years ago." Lupin explained. "And it was Harry who warned us of his return in June."

Danielle noticed that many people in the room flinched at the name 'Voldemort', but she paid it no mind for the moment. She was too busy with the thought that she had met a fellow celebrity in person just a few days ago and didn't even know it.

"Wait a second…fourteen years…" Danny was saying under his breath before he spoke up. "But he had to have been just a _baby_ when that happened!"

"He was," said Tonks with a bright smile.

"How did he manage _that_?" asked Danielle in awe.

"Potter did nothing." Snape said sourly. "He is simply celebrated for not dying when the Dark Lord turned his wand on him."

"Stay out of it, _Snivellus_," Sirius shot with a glare.

Kingsley ignored the two. "All most people know is that after Voldemort murdered his parents, he tried to kill Harry, but the curse he used backfired on him, leaving Harry with little more than a scar on his head and Voldemort rendered powerless."

Danielle raised an eyebrow in amazement. Then she felt a twinge of pity coming on. Harry's parents had been killed when he was just an infant; that explained why he was living with his aunt and uncle. She couldn't help but compare it to her own background. The result was the complete opposite of her relationship with Vlad. She also lived with a family that she was not born with, but at least they accepted her and cared for her. Not like the way Harry's relatives seemed to be treating him. The uncle tried to _strangle_ him for crying out load!

"And…what do _you_ guys know about how he survived?" asked Danny, interrupting Danielle's thoughts.

There was a pause in which several members of the Order looked between the Fentons.

"Dumbledore said you two were particularly bright for your age." Kingsley said with an impressed smile. "Quite observant."

"We've…learned to keep an eye out for certain things." Danny said with a shrug.

"How quaint." Snape said bitterly. "Another set of children just as nosey as Team Potter."

"You're one to talk about being _nosey_," Sirius retorted back in Snape's corner.

Danny and Danielle looked at each other wondering what about them could possibly have gotten them on Snape's bad side when they only just met him.

"Don't mind him." Lupin said quietly to them as if reading their minds. "Severus and Harry's father didn't get along well when they were young and he has a tendency to take it out on his son. I suspect his bitterness towards you is due to you reminding him of Harry, Mr. Fenton. You _do_ resemble him in some ways."

Danny rolled his eyes. That explained why Snape had looked at him the way he did when he had first laid eyes on him back at the hotel, but that still was no excuse to judge a book by its cover.

"Wonder if he also likes _his_ mom." said Danny wearily, looking towards Danielle who groaned repulsively.

"Pardon?" said Lupin confused.

"Oh, we just knew a crazed-up froot-loop who didn't get along well with _my_ dad either, but he happened to also have a crush on my mom." Danny explained casually. "He was quite the character to deal with."

Danielle happened to look over at Snape by this time, whom she noticed had stopped arguing with Sirius and was now glaring at Danny with a spark of rage in his eyes equal to the loathing he was always shooting at Sirius.

Danielle didn't have time to think much more of this before Mr. Weasley clapped his hands, calling the room to order.

"Moving on." He said.

"Right." Lupin agreed. "Well, in answer to your question, Mr. Fenton—"

"Just call me Danny."

"And I'm Danielle."

Lupin nodded in acknowledgement. "Harry's parents, Lily and James Potter, sacrificed themselves for his sake. Dumbledore has his theory, (and his theory's are usually accurate) that this selfless deed left a powerful enchantment upon their son that protected him from Voldemort's killing blow."

Danny and Danielle nodded in understanding before Danielle began to realize something else.

"But…now that Voldemort's back…" she began to say slowly, ignoring the collective shudders that she still didn't quite understand.

"—Dumbledore suspected he'd try to finish what he started," Sirius finished for her with a nod.

"And he would have done already, had Harry not escaped the day he returned," Tonks put in.

"And that's why you guys've been tailing him," Danielle concluded. "You think he might have tried to sneak up on him or something."

"Well, we couldn't risk much with Harry being the only witness of his return that was supposed to be kept quiet from anyone else besides his followers," said Bill.

"He's been trying to keep from drawing attention to himself, otherwise the death-toll around here would have already become catastrophic," Mad-Eye put in. "But he's always been particularly crafty. For all we know, a couple of his Death Eaters were also spying on Potter, waiting for an opportunity to drag him back to their leader to have him done in."

"So you think Voldemort sent the dementor's after him?" Danielle asked.

"Could have. But he may have also caught wind of you two that night." When Danny and Danielle looked at him in wonder, Mad-Eye went on. "Voldemort may not care much for Muggles, but if there are things about you that would grab Dumbledore's attention enough to want to get you involved with the Order, they may also catch Voldemort's. He might have tried to recruit you if Dumbledore hadn't gotten to you first. Assuming he didn't just kill you on the spot for being Muggles."

"Mad-Eye, do you always have to—" Tonks was saying before—

"I'd like to see him try." Danny said with an un-amused scoff, leaning back in his chair with a shake of his head.

This response seemed to earn a few stares from several in the room. Danielle noticed that Snape was sneering at him again as if taking Danny's confidence as arrogance.

"But what can we do for the Order exactly if Muggles aren't even supposed to know about this whole world of yours?" said Danielle, trying to ignore the strange looks.

"Dumbledore didn't tell us much about that," said Tonks.

"Danny, since you're of age by both Muggle and Wizarding law, I suspect he'll want _you_ to join the Order—" said Mad-Eye.

"—don't go jumping to conclusions, Alastor," said Mrs. Weasley quickly. "They're still quite young—"

"Oh I don't know, Molly," Mr. Weasley cut in. "Dumbledore seemed fairly impressed when he was talking about them, even if he didn't tell us why. I wouldn't put it past him. He may even also have plans for the younger one even if she _is_ Ron's age."

Mrs. Weasley sighed in frustration. "Well, I don't imagine Ron, or frankly, any of the other kids upstairs will be very happy in hearing about it either way."

A silence suddenly fell over the room, making the Fenton cousins look at each other in thought.

"We'll worry about crossing that bridge when we get to it." said Mr. Weasley, though there was also a look on his face that told Danielle that he knew his wife was correct.

00000

Meanwhile, Harry Potter had met up with his friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. Mrs. Weasley had sent him upstairs to them while everyone downstairs was sharing information that he was still not allowed in on, even though he had finally been able to leave Privet Drive. He had been frustrated already with them not saying anything and was confronting Ron and Hermione about it with anger.

"We wanted to give you answers, mate," responded Ron, "Hermione was going spare, she kept saying you'd do something stupid if you were stuck all on your own without news, but Dumbledore made us—"

"—swear not to tell me," finished Harry angrily. "Yeah, Hermione's already said. But I still don't understand why. After all, I'm the one who saw Voldemort return! I'm the one who fought him! I'm the one who saw Cedric Diggery get killed!"

"Harry, we're really sorry!" said Hermione desperately, "You're absolutely right—I'd be furious if it was me!"

Harry glared at her, still breathing deeply, then turned away from them, pacing up and down. His snow-white owl, Hedwig hooted glumly from the top of the wardrobe. There was a long pause, broken only by the mournful creek of the floorboards below Harry's feet.

"So what have you two been doing if you're not allowed in the meetings?" asked Harry, looking anywhere but at Ron or Hermione. "You kept saying in your letters that you were busy."

"We have," said Hermione quickly. "We've been decontaminating this house, it's been empty for ages and stuff's been breeding in here. We've managed to clean out the kitchen, most of the bedrooms and I think we'll be starting on the drawing room tomo—AARGH!"

With two loud cracks, Fred and George, Ron's elder twin brothers, had materialized out of thin air in the middle of the room. Pigwigeon, Ron's small pet owl, twittered widely and zoomed off to join Hedwig on top of the Wardrobe.

"Stop _doing_ that!" Hermione said weakly to the redheaded twins.

"Hello Harry," said George beaming at him. "We thought you heard your dulcet tones."

"You don't want to bottle your anger up like that, mate, let it all out," said Fred, also beaming. "There might be a couple of people fifty miles away who didn't hear you."

"You two passed your Apparation tests, then?" asked Harry grumpily.

"With distinction," said Fred, who was holding what looked like a piece of very long, flesh-colored string.

"It would have taken you about thirty seconds longer to walk down the stairs," said Ron.

"Time is Galleons, little brother," said Fred. "Anyway, Harry, you're interfering with reception. Extendable Ears." He added in response to Harry's raised eyebrows, holding up the string, which Harry saw was trailing out onto the landing. "We're trying to hear what's going on downstairs."

"You want to be careful," said Ron, staring at the ear. "If Mum sees one of them again…"

"It's worth the risk, that's a major meeting they're having," said Fred.

"And it sounds like they've got a couple of younger kids in there this time," said George.

"What?" said Ron, appalled. "Then why the devil are _we_ being left out of it? Give me that Extendable Ear!"

Just then, Ron's younger sister Ginny came through the door, noticing the flesh-colored strings. "It's no go with those." she said, nodding to Harry brightly in greeting. "She's gone and put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door."

"How d'you know?" said George, looking crestfallen.

"Tonks told me how to find out," said Ginny. "You just chuck stuff at the door and if it can't make contact, the door's been Impertubed. I've been flicking Dungbombs at it from the top of the stairs and they just soar away from it. So there's no way the Extendable Ears will be able to get under the gap."

Fred heaved a heavy sigh. "Shame. I really fancied finding out what old Snape's been up to."

"Snape?" said Harry quickly. "He's here? He's part of the Order?"

"Yeah," said George, carefully closing the door and sitting down on one of the beds; Fred and Ginny followed. "Always giving these top-secret reports."

"Earlier, I saw him coming in with two black-haired kids." Ginny chimed in. "First glance from top of the stairs, I thought one of them was _you,_ Harry."

"Perhaps two members of the Order had used Polyjuice Potion for something," suggested Hermione.

"Snape usually comes alone when he gives his reports," said Ron.

"So then why would the sound of new, strange kids with accents be coming from behind that door, I wonder?" said Fred.

"You can hear them?" asked Ron.

"Can't really tell what they're saying but—"

George's sentence stopped short at the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Uh-oh."

Fred gave the Extendable Ear a hearty tug before the voice of Mrs. Weasley could be heard calling up, "The meeting's over, you can come and have dinner now!"

Fred and George both let out a quiet whistle in relief before Ginny opened the door and she led the way into the hall and down the stairs.

As Harry himself was reaching the bottom of the last flight, he saw Mrs. Weasley.

"Well. We'll be eating down in the kitchen—OH!" Mrs. Weasley cried out as Fred and George suddenly materialized right behind her with another loud crack.

They giggled in seeing their mother jump before she frustratingly shooed them away.

"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, YOU TWO! JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE ALLOWED TO USE MAGIC NOW DOES _NOT_ MEAN YOU HAVE TO WHIP YOUR WANDS OUT FOR EVERYTHING!"

Mr. Weasley came up behind his wife, putting an arm around her shoulders as he looked at Harry. "You sure you're all right, Harry? You gave us quite a turn."

Before Harry could ask if he was referring to the dementor attack, another voice came from the door behind the both of them. "Harry Potter."

When the Weasleys moved aside, Harry saw, standing in the doorway to the kitchen, smiling brightly at him, the shaggy head of his Godfather, Sirius Black.

Harry couldn't help but smile in seeing him. "Sirius!" He said excitedly as he strode over to him where Sirius gave him a warm and welcome embrace. When they pulled away from each other, Sirius smiled back at him with an approving sigh.

"Right then. I don't know about you lot, but I'd like some dinner before midnight."

Everyone agreed with a series of nods and Sirius guided Harry with one arm by the shoulders into the kitchen. Once beyond the doorway, Harry saw Bill Weasley hastily rolling up the lengths of parchment left on the table.

"Journey all right, Harry?" Bill called, trying to gather up twelve scrolls at once. "Mad-Eye didn't make you come via Greenland, then?"

"He tried," said Tonks, rolling her eyes.

Harry looked past Bill to where he noticed three other figures, sitting at the far end of the table. On one side sat two black-haired teenagers he guessed were the ones Ginny had mentioned seeing earlier. They were sitting across from Lupin, nodding at something he was saying to them.

As Harry looked at the boy further towards the back, he got a proper view of his face and saw what Ginny had meant by the boy looking like him. He had the same color hair and build and was possibly also the same height as Harry, but his eyes were blue and he didn't wear glasses. Then he looked at the girl that was sitting beside him and in better view of Harry. Upon his second glance, Harry blinked, realizing that he actually recognized her.

The girl looked in his direction in noticing him starring at her. This confirmed his theory. The pony-tailed hair with long bangs that hung over half her face like a curtain over one of her clear blue eyes was unmistakable, yet also unbelievable.

"Hi, Harry." Danielle said with a shy smile and wave as she stood up from the table in greeting.

**Yes. I'm having Danielle fifteen even though she turned sixteen in the epilogue of Clash of All Time. I wanted her to be the same age as Harry and his friends so I could have her a little more involved in the plot. And here comes the combination of the movie and book I told you I'd be doing, especially when it started getting into Harry's Point-of-View. Hope it doesn't make it too dull for you as the readers because that's what always seems to be making it dull for me as the writer that's constantly referring to someone else's wording. Anyway, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the chapter through your reviews. Your favorite parts, ideas to convey, things you think can use improvement, etc. Thanks.**


	4. The Order of the Phoenix

_**I am officially losing my motivation in writing this. Even if lots of you guys are enjoying reading, I'm not enjoying writing it nearly as much as I did my first two stories. So those of you who are already disappointed about this one not being up to par with my first two fanfictions, I feel for you. **_

_**I'll say one more time, THIS WAS **__**NOT**__** MY IDEA! Someone else gave me the challenge that I just thought to try out. Maybe while writing this one I'll be able to come up with a real sequel to my first two stories that will be no crossover and far more reasonable.**_

_**Disclaimer:**__** I do NOT own Danny Phantom (Except my design of the older version of Danielle) or any of the Harry Potter books or movies**__._

**Chapter 4: The Order of the Phoenix**

"Hold on—Danielle?" said Harry in wide-eyed surprise.

"You know them?" Ron asked Harry, looking at the two newcomers, perplexed.

"That's the girl I met back in Little Whinging before the dementor attack!"

"You mean she was there too?" said Hermione, staring. "But I thought it was only your cousin that saw you use magic."

Harry stared at Hermione, wondering how she could have been thinking this when he paused and thought back to the letter he had gotten from the Ministry. It _had_ mentioned that there was only one Muggle when he used his Patronus, but both the girl and Dudley were definitely there and witnessed. And Danielle couldn't have been a witch. She hadn't recognized his name when he introduced himself and _everyone_ in the Wizarding World knew him. Then again, perhaps they were not as familiar with his name in the States, which was where she said she was from. However, Harry then remembered that she hadn't recognized what he did as magic when he cast the Patronus Charm. But wouldn't the letter have mentioned the presence of two Muggles if she were one? Perhaps the letter hadn't referred to Dudley because he was related to him and already aware of magic.

"Why is she here, is she getting her memory modified or something?" asked Harry, turning to Lupin.

"Er…well…"

Lupin hesitated for a long moment before Danielle stepped up to Harry with what came across to him as an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, Harry," said Danielle "I feel somewhat responsible for this mess you're in with the Ministry." Harry stared at her, confused. "I could have done something about those things that attacked us and probably could have kept you from having to use magic, but I…"

"Oh, Dani, don't go beating yourself up about that." The other black-haired kid said with a sigh and shake of his head.

"A _girl_ named _Danny_?" George inquired with a slight chuckle.

"No _that's_ Danny." Danielle said, indicating Danny behind her who raised his hand with a slight grin.

"But he just said, _you_ were Danny?" said Fred, looking confused.

"No, that's Dan-_I_," said Danny, pointing at Danielle.

Fred and George started, blinking for a moment before they, Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny all just looked at each other, obviously even more confused.

Danielle let out a giggle in seeing their expressions. She and Danny loved playing this game with their nicknames sounding exactly the same even if they were spelled differently on paper.

Harry shook the perplexity out of his head before saying hesitantly, "But I thought you said at the park that your name was Dan_ielle_."

"It is," Danielle nodded with a grin. Harry screwed up his face before she finally clarified, "People just call me Dani for short; With an I."

Fred and George raised their eyebrows at the same time, but upon looking at each other, smiled and snorted. This seemed to start a bit of a chain reaction in the room as other people let out suppressed giggles at the bizarre, although admittedly amusing, exchange that just occurred.

"Blimey, that's brilliant!" said Fred and George in unison.

"Dani and Danny." George played with a laugh.

"Hey Mum," called Fred across the room. "Why didn't you call _us_ the same name with different spellings?"

"Yeah, I mean _Fred_ and _George_? What were you thinking?" said George as he and his twin found seats on either side of the two cousins as people started to gather at the table.

"The two of you already look _and_ act like the same person without having the same name," Mrs. Weasley said, shaking her head. Although Danielle thought she caught a hint of a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.

"So you two are twins too, then?" asked George turning back to the two newcomers, and holding out his hand for Danielle to shake. Fred did the same with Danny on the other side.

"Cousins actually." corrected Danielle with a smile.

"Though I guess we may as well be. We get that assumption almost all the time," added Danny with a laugh as George reached past Danielle to shake Danny's hand now while Fred crossed his own arm under his brother's to shake Danielle's at the same time.

As Harry was taking a seat next to Sirius across the table from the new kids, he would have thought all the crisscrossing of arms amusing, had his mind not been preoccupied. He had remembered that Danielle had told him back in Little Whinging that she was with a cousin. As he looked between the two of them however, he noticed the resemblance between her and Danny was so uncannily similar, he immediately understood how Fred and George had mistaken them as twin siblings.

What he was most confused about however was what Danielle had said earlier about preventing Harry from having to use magic. When he looked over at Hermione, she seemed to be thinking the same thing when her eyes widened and she shot a surprised look at Danielle.

"Hold on. You said…so you could _see_ the Dementors? But I thought Muggles couldn't see them."

To this, all of the teens at the table stared at the two raven-haired kids. Fred and George in particular, who had been laughing and happy to meet them only five seconds ago, looked at them strangely. Danny and Danielle looked around at all the faces, uncomfortably. Harry wracked his brain, trying to piece parts of his memory together when he suddenly realized something.

"Wait. That light. That was _you_?" Danielle gave him a perplexed look. So did everyone else. "I had dropped my wand after my cousin slugged me and there was a flash of light that helped me to find it again so I could use the Patronus. I never even thought about what it was before. _You_ did that?"

Danielle screwed up her face, thinking for a moment before it suddenly came to her. "Oh! Right. That. I was trying to light up the alley to see what was going on when I saw the dementor and freaked out. It didn't seem to mind having its cloak set on fire very much, though. Wish I thought to try something else."

"You set it on _fire_?" said Ron, looking like he was imagining what a dementor would look like if it were ablaze, which was peculiar by the expression.

Harry thought in consideration. He had barely a second to notice at the time, but he thought he did indeed remember seeing the first dementor on fire before he set the Patronus after it. But how could Danielle have lit it? There was nothing in that alley she could have used for kindling that he knew of, even if she _could_ see in that darkness, let alone light one that fast if she happened to have a match on her. Or…

"You mean you can use magic?" said Hermione, finishing Harry's thought aloud. She then turned to Mr. Weasley, who worked in the Ministry of Magic. "But I thought there were no other registered witches or wizards other than Harry that were living in Little Whinging."

"Well, I _don't_ live there." Danielle answered for Mr. Weasley with a shrug, catching Hermione's attention again.

"Danielle and I are from overseas: From America," piped in Danny helpfully.

"I just happened to have been exploring in Little Whinging when I met Harry and then the dementors came at us," continued Danielle.

"Was that your first time ever seeing dementors?"

"I've seen some pretty strange things in my life, but nothing quite like that."

"Hopefully you'll never have to again, the foul things. Let's eat," said Bill before Harry had the chance to ask anymore questions.

"Agreed," said Lupin, ladling stew from a large cauldron that had been set on the table into a plate and handing it down the line of diners.

For a few minutes, there was silence but for the chink of plates and cutlery and the scraping of chairs as everyone who wasn't already seated settled down to their food.

"This looks great." Danny commented when a plate was handed to him.

"Who's the chef?" Danielle asked after tasting her own portion, looking around at everyone at the table before several fingers pointed towards Mrs. Weasley.

"My compliments." Danielle smiled with a thumbs-up.

"Oh thank you, dear." Mrs. Weasley replied, flattered.

Once everyone else had been served and had started eating, Hermione asked Danny and Danielle in between bites, "But if you used magic against the dementors, then shouldn't you have gotten in trouble with the Ministry as well?"

"Did they threaten to expel you from the school you go to?" Ginny put in.

"What school _do_ you go to?" asked Fred.

"I know I've never seen you at Hogwarts." said George.

Danny and Danielle took a moment to look at each other as if trying to think of what to say. Then they looked at several members of the Order as if asking them for answers. Harry found this exchange a bit odd. How hard of a question was that to answer?

"We've never _been_ to any magic school," Danielle finally said.

The kids all stared around at each other in hearing this.

"But surely there are magic schools in America. I've read about some of them," said Hermione.

"Not for the type of magic _these_ two have." Mr. Weasley quickly put in.

"What does _that_ mean?" asked Ron

"Well…" Danielle began slowly. "…until that night in Little Whinging I had never even heard of, let alone seen, any of the kind of magic I've seen _you_ guys do already."

"But you can't be Muggles to have been able to do something like set a dementor on fire," Harry inquired.

"Then what kind of magic _do_ you have?" asked Fred with interest.

Danny and Danielle exchanged another silent look before Danny spoke.

"It's kind of complicated," he simply said. "I guess you could say it's obscure enough from what you guys are used to that it must have fallen off the radar of any magic school. And probably by extent, the Ministry."

Harry was trying to contemplate the meaning of these words when Fred and George spoke in unison again.

"How old are you two?"

"I'm fifteen and Danny's eighteen," Danielle replied.

"You're eighteen and you're this short?" said Fred with a snort, patting Danny playfully on the top of his head for emphasis. The twins were indeed a year younger and taller than he was.

Danny smiled mischievously for a reason Harry couldn't identify before seeing his gaze shift at Danielle who gave him a similar glance back. Suddenly, several heads turned at the sound of Fred and George crying out in surprise as they both suddenly fell down below the table and out of sight for a moment; both of which taking the silverware with which they were using to eat with them.

"And can make you shorter," Danny said with a grin as he returned to his plate.

There was a collective mumble of confusion from everyone at the table as everyone, except Danny and Danielle, wondered how Fred and George were now sitting on the floor, right under the seats they had been sitting on only seconds ago.

Fred and George quickly got up, looking equally as confused, but also awestruck. They both pulled their chairs away from the table and pressed their hands on them as if checking the solidity before they looked at each other with wild smiles.

"Wicked!" They said in unison before seating themselves down again.

"No one EVER pulls one over on us like that." said Fred, looking so impressed that he had completely forgotten the mystery of what had just happened and how.

"So you've been able to get away with using underage magic your whole lives?" said George.

"Can you teach us a few tricks?" whispered Fred.

"Boys!" Mrs. Weasley said warningly, obviously discouraging the two learning more ways to pull pranks on people, especially now that they were of age.

The twins spent the majority of their mealtime talking enthusiastically with Danny and Danielle about where they were from and how often they pulled the 'same name' joke on people. Though the cousins still were very restrictive on telling them much more about their powers and still wouldn't tell them exactly how they had made Fred and George fall out of their chairs.

Before long, Harry began to notice that, Ron, Ginny and Hermione were constantly stealing glances over at Danny and Danielle as if they thought they would do something else strange at any moment that could cause a lot more chaos.

Harry didn't blame them. He still had so many questions for the both of them that they didn't seem to want to answer straightforwardly. Hadn't people already been keeping enough secrets from him all summer long? What about these two kids was special enough to see dementors, let alone catch the attention of the Order of the Phoenix and not get in trouble with the Ministry when he himself had fought Voldemort and was still being left in the dark, having to face a disciplinary hearing on the twelfth? It just wasn't fair.

After a while, a helpful distraction came from the other end of the table where Tonks was entertaining Hermione and Ginny. She was transforming her nose between mouthfuls, screwing up her eyes each time in a pained expression as her nose swelled to a beaklike protuberance like Snape's, shrank to something resembling a button mushroom, and then sprouting a great deal of hair from each nostril. Apparently this was a regular mealtime entertainment, because after a while, Hermione and Ginny started requesting their favorite noses.

"Do that one like a pig snout, Tonks…"

Tonks obliged, and Harry, looking up, had the fleeting impression that a female Dudley was grinning at him from across the table.

Three helpings of rhubarb crumble and custard later and the waistband of Harry's jeans was feeling uncomfortably tight (which was saying something, as the jeans had once been Dudley's), he lay down his spoon in a lull in the general conversation. Mr. Weasley was leaning back in his chair, looking replete and relaxed, Tonks was yawning widely, her face now back to normal, and Ginny was sitting cross-legged on the floor, rolling butterbeer corks for Hermione's cat Crookshanks to chase.

"Nearly time for bed, I think," said Mrs. Weasley on a yawn.

"Not just yet, Molly," said Sirius, pushing away his empty plate. "Harry's been trapped in that Muggle house for a month. He's got the right to know what's been happen—"

"Hang on!" interrupted George loudly, startling Danielle next to him.

"How come Harry gets his questions answered?" said Fred angrily.

"We've been trying to get stuff out of you for a month and you haven't told us a single stinking thing!" said George.

"'_You're too young, you're not in the Order,_'" said Fred in a high-pitched voice that sounded uncannily like his mother's. "Harry's not even of age!"

"And what about the Danny's?" said Ginny "_They_ were in here for the meeting! I saw them go in!"

"Oh boy." Danielle said in an undertone, knowing where this was going.

"Why am I getting the impression we're being attacked here?" added Danny, looking at Danielle.

"Oh, it's nothing against you, mate, honestly." said Ron. Though Danielle detected spite in his voice. "We just find it a bit unfair is all, that two kids with no real magic, being let passed the Statute of Secrecy are even allowed into a top-secret meeting of the Order of the Phoenix."

Fred and George seemed to be staying out of this particular part of the argument, as they seemed to have already decided that the cousins were all right a long time ago, despite the injustice that Harry was sure they were still feeling as strongly as their younger brother.

"It's not my fault you haven't been told what the Order's doing," said Sirius calmly. "That's your parents decision. And Dumbledore has his own reasons for the Fentons—" He indicated Danny and Danielle. "—Harry on the other hand—"

"He's only fifteen!" said Mrs. Weasley sharply.

"—and has dealt with as much as most in the Order. And more than some. He's not a child!"

"But he's not an adult either!" said Mrs. Weasley, the color rising in her cheeks. "He's not _James_, Sirius!"

"And he's not your son."

"He's as good as."

"If anyone's got the right to know, it's Harry. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't even know Voldemort was back."

"Yes, but there's a difference between telling him what he needs to know and inviting him to ask whatever he likes."

"Personally," said Lupin quietly. "I think it better that Harry gets the facts—not all the facts, Molly, but the general picture—from us, rather than a garbled version from…others."

Danielle's eyes shifted about the room as she watched the exchange unfold. Mrs. Weasley was looking around the room for support that did not come.

"Well. I can see I'm going to be overruled," she said, her voice cracking. "Ginny—Ron—Hermione—Fred—George—I want you out of this kitchen, now."

There was an instant uproar.

"We're of age!" Fred and George bellowed together.

"If Harry's allowed, why can't I?" shouted Ron.

"Mum, I _want_ to!" wailed Ginny.

"What about _them_?" complained Hermione, indicated the Fentons.

Danielle looked around nervously as she raised her hand politely.

"Uh…look, if it's really such a problem, we can just leave," she suggested, half-standing.

"You two will stay where you are," ordered Lupin, motioning for Danielle to sit back down, which she immediately obeyed. "Dumbledore may not have told us fully of what you're capable of, but I trust his judgment."

"And Molly," Mr. Weasley interjected wearily, "you can't stop Fred and George. They are of age—"

"They're still in school—"

"But they're legally adults now," said Mr. Weasley in the same tired voice.

Mrs. Weasley was now scarlet in the face.

"I—oh, all right then. But Ron and—"

"Danielle's fifteen!"

Ron had opened his mouth to protest but it was Danny who spoke. His voice resonated throughout the whole room with such a surprising amount of experienced command for a late teenager that no one could help but direct their attention towards him, even if out of surprise that such a voice was sounding from him.

"If either one of _us_ is being allowed in on this, I think it's only fair to let those who are at least that age to stay as well," Danny said sternly.

Danielle nodded, folding her arms and looking around at the members of the Order.

The room fell silent for a moment as the adults seemed to take Danny's words into consideration. Danielle looked over at Harry and the other teens. All of them were looking at her and Danny as if stunned that they had taken their side.

"Oh, fine!" Mrs. Weasley shouted in frustration. "Fine! Ginny—bed!"

Ginny did not go quietly. They could hear her raging and storming at her mother all the way up the stairs. When she reached the hall, another voice was added to the din in earsplitting screams that certainly could not have been coming from either Ginny or her mother. Lupin hurried off restore the calm while Danny and Danielle looked at each other with raised eyebrows, wondering what on earth the new sound had been. It was only after Lupin had returned, closing the kitchen door behind him and taking his seat at the table again, that Sirius spoke.

"Okay, Harry…what do you want to know?"

Harry took a deep breath and asked the question that had been obsessing him for a month.

"_Where is Voldemort?_ What's he doing? How come nothing's happened?"

There was a collective shudder at the name.

"Why does everyone keep doing that?" asked Danielle exasperatedly.

"Why do people shudder every time someone says that name?" Danny clarified when people began staring at them questioningly, after the renewed shudders and winces from the repeated name died out.

"He was the most evil wizard that ever existed, kids," said Mr. Weasley. "Most people in our society fear to even speak his name."

Harry looked curiously over at the two cousins and watched them exchange confused glances.

"Well, I know he's psychotic, but…that's just…kind of silly, don't you think?" Danielle commented with a shrug. When the Weasleys in particular looked at her as if appalled while others gazed at her in awe (including Harry), she went on defensively. "I mean, it's just a name, right? It's not like people saying it is what brought him back, he did that on his own."

"You don't understand." Mrs. Weasley said gravely. "You weren't around to see the atrocities he had committed before he fell."

"Oh, I don't know. I think I might actually have a pretty good idea." Danny said, leaning back in his seat and folding his arms. Danielle looked back at a determined looking Mrs. Weasley, confident in Danny's statement.

"Has a single powerful person _you've_ faced ever tried to take control of your entire world?"

"Yeah." Danny nodded casually, without hesitation. _And then some. _He added in his head.

Mr. Weasley seemed surprised by this answer, but continued, "And harmed thousands of people in doing so?"

"Yeah." Danny nodded again.

"And threaten your loved ones if you didn't join his cause?"

Danny and Danielle looked at each other with a snort and nodded indefinitely, saying in unison, "Yeah."

All in the room exchanged looks of wonder at how self-assuredly the two had responded to their questions. Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, not sure whether or not to believe the two kids. Could there have possibly been someone in America as bad as Voldemort?

"Not anyone from the Wizarding World," Danny quickly clarified, "but I'm pretty sure we're still on the same page here."

After a short pause in which murmurs of wonder were exchanged, Sirius leaned back in his own chair, smiling at the Fentons. "I like these kids already."

Lupin nodded, looking impressed himself. "I think I'm starting to understand why Dumbledore wanted them involved."

"But in answer to your question, Harry," said Bill, before the conversation around the Fentons could continue. "Since you survived to bear witness of his return, You-Know-Who has been laying low. Particularly since Dumbledore was the first person you informed of his comeback."

"However, that also has presented a bit of a problem." said Mr. Weasley, looking rather gravely at Harry directly.

The room fell into an awkward silence that Harry didn't quite understand. Danny and Danielle also glanced around the room, trying to pick up hints of the hidden message that was obviously being denied to bring up directly.

"Show him." said Lupin. "He'll find out soon enough."

There were several heavy sighs before Bill took out a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ and handed it to Harry who read on the front page that had a picture of himself just below the headline, _The Boy Who Lies. _

"What is it?" asked Danielle, who couldn't see the headline from her place across the table.

"The Minister discrediting Harry." Lupin explained.

"And he's been attacking Dumbledore as well." Mr. Weasley put in.

"Fudge is using all his power, including his influence on the _Daily Prophet_ to smear anyone who claims the Dark Lord has returned." said Sirius.

"What?" Danny said outraged.

"You never mentioned _that_ part in the meeting." Danielle added, now realizing that the problem The Order of the Phoenix was facing was far more complicated than Dumbledore had originally made it out to be. She then rolled her eyes, shaking her head before she and her cousin shared knowing looks in remembering incidences with The Guys in White and Walker.

"Why?" asked Harry.

"The Minister thinks Dumbledore is after his job," said Lupin.

"But that's insane!" Harry nearly shouted. "Dumbledore's never even _wanted_ to be Minister. Who in their right mind would think—"

"Exactly the point, Harry. Fudge _isn't_ in his right mind. It's been twisted and warped by fear."

The Fentons shared meaningful glances again before Danny spoke up.

"Well…fear _can_ do some pretty interesting things to people."

Lupin nodded.

"It's true. The last time Voldemort gained power, he almost destroyed everything we hold most dear. The Ministry of Magic hasn't had to deal with that kind of trouble for nearly fourteen years. And I'm afraid, now that he's returned, Fudge will do almost anything to avoid facing the terrifying truth."

"Well that's a way to just make the problem worse," said Danny, slumping in his chair.

"So they've been labeling Harry as a liar and found a perfect excuse to treat him like a criminal when he _had_ to use magic to defend himself," Danielle realized grudgingly.

Harry looked solemnly down at the front page of the _Daily Prophet_. He didn't like the thought of the hearing, so he redirected the conversation.

"So what's the Order been doing about Voldemort then?" he asked.

"Doing our best to make sure he can't carry out his plans," said Sirius.

"And what _are_ his plans?"

"We think he wants to build up his army again. Fourteen years ago, he had huge numbers at his command, and not just witches and wizards, but all manner of dark creatures. He's been recruiting heavily and we've been attempting to do the same."

"The problem is," said Lupin. "With the Ministry having the whole of the population thinking that nothing's wrong, it's has been difficult to convince people Voldemort's back, especially as they really don't want to believe it in the first place. Or else, those who _do_ believe, fear the Ministry will have them sacked or even arrested."

"Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you." Danielle put in.

"It's been a miracle to have found the pair of you," said Lupin to both the Fentons.

"In any case," said Sirius. "Gathering followers isn't the only thing Voldemort is interested in."

Mr. Weasley cleared his throat loudly.

There was a pause before Sirius went on.

"We believe…Voldemort may be after something—"

"Sirius," Mr. Weasley tried to say.

"Something he didn't have the last time."

Danielle could sense tension beginning to build in the room again.

"You mean…like a weapon?" Harry asked.

"That's enough!"

Mrs. Weasley spoke from the shadows beside the door just as Sirius was opening his mouth. Her arms were crossed and she looked furious. "You say much more and you might as well induct him into the Order straightaway."

"Good. I want to join!" said Harry. "If Voldemort's raising an army then I want to fight—"

"No."

It was not Mrs. Weasly who spoke this time, but Lupin.

"The Order is comprised only of overage wizards," he said. "Wizards who have left school," he added as Fred and George opened their mouths. "And unless Dumbledore says otherwise, it's all we'll be telling the Fentons for now as well. There are dangers involved of which you can have no idea, any of you…I think Molly's right, Sirius. We've said enough."

Sirius half-shrugged but did not argue. Mrs. Weasley beckoned imperiously to her sons, the two cousins and Hermione. One by one they stood up and Harry, recognizing defeat, followed suit.

Mrs. Weasley followed them upstairs looking grim.

"I want you all to go straight to bed, no talking. We've got a busy day tomorrow," she said as they reached the first landing. "Danielle dear, we're going to put you in the room with Hermione and Ginny if you don't mind."

"Uh…"

Danielle looked at Hermione who was looking back at her awkwardly. It was clear that neither one of them was comfortable with this arrangement. Mrs. Weasley missed the exchange before adding to Hermione, "I expect Ginny's asleep, so try not to wake her."

"Asleep, yeah right," said Fred in an undertone. "If Ginny's not lying awake waiting for Hermione to tell her everything they said downstairs, then I'm a flobberworm…"

"Now, which room would _you_ like to be in, Danny?" asked Mrs. Weasley, turning to Danny.

"Um…actually, Mrs. Weasley," said Danny quietly with a concerned tone, "I'm not sure everyone feels the same about sharing a room with total strangers that aren't even from this country."

"I'm sorry dear, but we don't have any other rooms cleaned well enough at the moment. We'll have to make due for now."

"Danielle and I are actually pretty easily adaptable. We can even sleep in the kitchen."

"Oh don't be silly, dear, we can't have that. Now which room would you like?"

"I do appreciate the courtesy, ma'am but I really must insist." That strangely authoritative command in Danny's voice returned, making Mrs. Weasley and everyone else, stare (except Danielle). "Just for tonight." Danny added more softly this time.

There was a silence in which Harry looked over at Ron who was looking particularly hopeful that Danny wouldn't end up being in the same room with him. Harry was feeling conflicted about the idea himself. While it was a chance to find out more about the new kids, and possibly talk some more information out of him about the meeting they were allowed to attend, there were so many mysteries surrounding Danielle and her cousin that was making him feel on edge. He kept getting bizarre visions of Danny doing something like making him or Ron sink through their own beds during the night or setting the room on fire like Danielle had done with the dementor…However way she had accomplished that.

"Oh, very well." said Mrs. Weasley, to Harry's relief, and apparently Ron's as well, based on the sigh he heard him let out. "For tonight. Perhaps by the next we'll have a proper place prepared for you."

"Thanks very much." said Danny, beckoning Danielle over to him before they headed downstairs together.

"All right, Ron—Harry," said Mrs. Weasley pointed them into their bedroom. "Off to bed with you."

"Night," Harry and Ron said to the twins.

"Sleep tight," said Fred, winking.

Mrs. Weasley closed the door behind Harry with a sharp snap. Harry put on his pajamas, took off his glasses, and climbed into his chilly bed while Ron threw Owl Treats up on top of the wardrobe to pacify Hedwig and Pigwigeon, who were clattering around and rustling their wings restlessly. He got into his bed, settled down under the covers, then turned to look at Harry in the darkness. Harry could see his outline by the moonlight filtering in through the grimy window. "_What d'you reckon_?"

Harry didn't have to ask what Ron meant.

"Well, they didn't tell us much we couldn't have guesses, did they?" He said, thinking of all that had been said downstairs. "I mean, all they've really said is that the Order's trying to stop people joining _Vol_—"

There was a sharp intake of breath from Ron.

"—_demort_," said Harry firmly. "You know, Danielle was right. It's just a name. And Sirius and Lupin use it all the time."

Ron ignored the last comment. "Yeah, you're right," he said. "We already knew nearly everything they told us, from using the Extendable Ears. The only new bit was—"

_Crack_.

"OUCH!"

"Keep your voice down, Ron, or Mum'll be back up here."

"You two just Apparated on my knees!"

"Yeah, well, it's harder in the dark—"

Harry saw the blurred outlines of Fred and George leaping down from Ron's bed. There was a groan of bedsprings and Harry's mattress descended a few inches as George sat near his feet.

"So you got there yet?" said George eagerly.

"The weapon Sirius mentioned?" said Harry.

"Let slip, more like," said Fred with relish, now sitting next to Ron. "We didn't hear about _that_ on the old Extendables, did we?"

"What d'you reckon it is?" said Harry.

"Could be anything." said Fred.

There was a pause and Harry knew that the others, like him, were wondering what horrors this weapon could perpetrate.

"So who d'you think's got it now?" asked George.

"I hope it's our side," said Ron, sounding slightly nervous.

There was a sudden gasp coming from Fred. "You know, I just thought…maybe those kids have it!" he said.

Harry felt George stiffen at the foot of his bed and his own heart skipped a beat.

"You think?" said Harry fervently.

"That or they at least know about it." said George

"It would make sense why the Order would let them into that meeting." said Ron, his voice with realization.

"And they _do_ seem to have pretty weird magic." said Fred.

"You mean when you fell out of your seats at dinner?" said Ron.

"We didn't just fall _out_ of them. We fell _through_ them." said George.

There was a pause in which Harry knew, even though it was dark, that Ron was wearing an expression on his face that was just as confused as his own.

"Those kids did something to our chairs that was like...like…" Fred got lost in his own words.

"_Like_ _what_?" prodded Ron and Harry in unison.

"It was like the chairs weren't even solid for a second. Almost like they became ghostlike." said George.

"Shhh!" said Fred, half-rising from the bed. "Listen!"

They fell silent. Footsteps were coming up the stairs again.

"Mum," said George, and without further ado there was a loud _crack_ and Harry felt the weight vanish from the end of his bed. A few seconds later and they heard the floorboards creak outside their door. Mrs. Weasley was plainly listening to see whether they were talking or not.

The floorboard creaked again and they heard her heading upstairs to check on Fred and George.

"She doesn't trust us at all, you know," said Ron regretfully.

00000

The kitchen may have been one of the first rooms that the Order had cleaned in the otherwise filthy house, but Danny and Danielle used their own methods of sanitizing as well for good measure by turning the spot they had chosen on the floor intangible and letting any leftover dirt or grime fall through the floorboards and under the foundation of the house. They had brought sleeping bags with them to roll out, but as they were doing this, Mrs. Weasley had come in and conjured up some cots for them.

"I thought this would do far better than sleeping right on a still questionable floor." She had said.

"Your magic seems to come in pretty handy." said Danny with an impressed nod before Mrs. Weasley smiled, bade them good night and closed the kitchen door behind her.

When the Fentons had settled into their sleeping bags on the cots, they looked at each other through the darkness, thinking back on the day's events.

"So what do you think?" Danielle began.

"Well, when we wanted to take advantage of the extra time here since finishing that ghost job early, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind." replied Danny.

"You said it." Danielle scoffed in agreement.

"Speaking of which, how do we tell the others back home?" asked Danny.

"I'm not really sure we should. I mean…I hate to have to keep secrets from the family but…I already got Harry into a lot of trouble just by finding out _his_ secret. And with their whole government already breathing down his neck for trying to warn everyone of a magic maniac on the loose…" Danielle let out a heavy sigh in losing the rest of her sentence and stared up at the dark ceiling.

"Dani?"

Danielle detected a hint of banter in his voice that she didn't expect. When she looked in his direction, her sharp vision, even in the dark allowed her to see his face, which was smiling suspiciously at her.

"Are you crushing on him?"

Danielle felt the color suddenly rise to her cheeks and her heart suddenly sped up.

"W-What? No! Of course not, I just…I mean…he seems nice enough I guess. They _all_ do. But I…I just feel bad for him is all."

Danny just kept grinning.

"Look…you've had to deal with the press and the government giving you a bad name for some time, right? I've never gone through that kind of persecution… Even though I'm always afraid of what they would think of me if they knew of my background with Vlad, I…oh, you know!" said Danielle frustratingly as she turned over on her side, with her back towards Danny.

"Yeah. I think I do." Danny said slowly, but Danielle heard him chuckle mischievously before turning over in his own cot.

An awkward silence filled the room that lasted what felt to Danielle like several minutes before she thought of something else to talk about.

"I kept catching some of the other kids staring at us at dinner. And they looked really uncomfortable when Mrs. Weasley was trying to get us to share rooms with them. I think they're still a little…well…they don't seem to know what to make of us."

"Yeah. We probably overdid it with turning the twins' chairs intangible." Danny agreed. "Though, from the sound of it, these people have let us in on quite a few of _their_ secrets already."

Danielle sighed heavily, thinking of the things that were said in this very room only moments ago, remembering how the other kids seemed pretty jealous that they were in the meeting at all.

"You think we should return the favor?" asked Danielle, almost regretfully.

Danny paused thoughtfully before he spoke.

"You were the one that saw the dementors. Technically, I'm only here because I happen to have the same powers as you do."

"You mean _I_ have the same powers _you_ do." corrected Danielle. It was after all, Danny's DNA that she was born from and had inherited her own powers through.

Danny didn't pay attention to this last comment. "Let's just see how things play out for now. I don't know what Dumbledore has in mind for us, but it may require to lay low for a while longer. At least on the full extent of our powers and…_what_ we really are."

"Right," said Danielle quietly; taking this into consideration and wondering what new secrets either side might learn starting the next morning.

_**I don't know when I'll have the next chapter up and I think it's going to be a bit of a boring one, making it longer for me to even want to publish. **_

_**But anyway, some reviews would be nice. So what do you think of how Fred and George reacted to the Fentons? What about Harry and his friends? Do you think the Phantoms should have been a little more discreet about their powers, or let them see more? What was your favorite part and why? Any predictions on what will happen next? Your thoughts on improvement would be helpful.**_


	5. Fresh Perspective

_**Sorry this took so long. Not only was this chapter difficult to write and ended up being WAY longer than I anticipated, (in fact, was so long, I ended up cutting off about 6 pages and it's STILL way long) but I had fallen ill for the passed week, making me unable to write hardly anything. Technically, I'm still trying to fight it off. **_

_**I also found that even after cutting off six pages to shorten it up, it kept getting longer every time I was proofreading it, so I figured I'd better just post the thing. Sorry if all that proofreading has ended up making it so detail-oriented and long-winded that it gets boring.**_

_**Still, hope you enjoy. There may be an unexpected twist in here that you'll either love or hate. You'll see what I mean before the end.**_

**Chapter 5: Fresh Perspective**

The next morning, the Fenton children woke up to a sizzling sound coming from the stove. At first, they wondered how they ended up in the kitchen of some strange ancient-looking house, but soon their memories caught up with the recent events. It took only a moment to remember that they had spent the night in the kitchen of an old magical house that hid a secret magical Order that was tracking a hidden magical murderer that had it in for a bespectacled magical boy.

"Good morning, dears," said the voice of Mrs. Weasley, who was the one cooking whatever was sizzling in a frying pan. "Sorry if I woke you."

"Oh, wake me up to _that_ smell any time of the day," said Danny as he sat up in his cot, inhaling the scent of fresh bacon.

Danielle shook her head but Mrs. Weasley smiled.

"Well. Breakfast should be ready soon. I do hope we can have your help cleaning the drawing room today."

The Fentons shared glances with each other. Neither of them really liked house-chores, regardless of the ways they had of speeding it up. However, they were guests in this strange new world that they were so kindly let into, even if by coincidence. The least they could do was help to make the place they were allowed to stay in more habitable. And it looked like it really needed it.

Within the next five minutes, the Fentons had packed up their sleeping gear and Mrs. Weasley was able to vanish their cots, allowing her more maneuverability around the kitchen as she prepared the meal. In the meantime, the Fentons decided to go exploring around the rest of the house. After getting the layout of the ground floor down pretty well and moving up to the second floor hall, they heard the magical children beginning to stir in their own bedrooms.

Soon after, the cousins came across a long, high-ceilinged room that they assumed was the drawing room. The walls were olive-green and covered with dirty tapestries. The carpet exhaled little clouds of dust every time either of the children so much as put their foot down on it. Moss-green velvet curtains were drawn over the windows. After a second, Danielle noticed that the curtains were buzzing as if swarming with invisible bees.

Right at that moment, Mrs. Weasley came through the door carrying a bucket with a variety of what appeared to be cleaning materials.

"Now I won't let you start working on an empty stomach. You've not had breakfast yet," said Mrs. Weasley, looking at the cousins before beginning to lay out several spray cans over the top of a spindle-legged table.

"Why do the curtains sound like a beehive?" asked Danielle, straining her ears as though double-checking that she was hearing correctly.

"Doxies," said Mrs. Weasley, simply.

"What are doxies?" said Danny.

"One of the many household pests that need to be exterminated in this house," said Mrs. Weasley with weariness in her voice. She pulled out a book called _Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Houshold Pests_ and started to leaf through the pages.

"You mean like, ants, cockroaches, flies—" Danielle listed off before Danny whispered to her in an undertone, "—The Box Ghost?" Danielle snorted.

"No. Doxies are far more vicious," said Mrs. Weasley, shaking her head. She didn't seem to have heard the Fenton's inside joke (probably for the better) when she found the page she was looking for. She then crossed over the dusty carpet to Danny and pointing to a section in the book.

Danielle took a peek over Danny's shoulder at the place in the book that Mrs. Weasley was indicating. It was a moving picture of a little black fairylike and hairy creature with four arms, shiny beetlelike wings and tiny needle-sharp teeth. It was certainly nothing like any household pest the Fentons had ever seen or dealt with, ghostlike or otherwise.

"Their teeth are also poisonous," said Mrs. Weasley, taking the book back and laying it open on the sofa at the Doxy page, "so when we begin, you'll have to mind yourselves. You should join the others for breakfast. Then we can all start together. We'll need it."

Danielle walked over to the table where Mrs. Weasley had laid out the many bottles of black liquid with nozzles at the end. She picked one of them up, turning it over and weighing it in her hand.

"What's this stuff?" asked Danielle.

"I doubt it's air-freshener," Danny remarked after noticing the bottles himself.

"Doxycide," answered Mrs. Weasley as she was laying down a stack of random cloths across the table. "We'll be using it to get rid of them."

Danny was now taking a turn to examine the bottles of black liquid. His gaze shifted between the bottle he now held in his hand and the buzzing curtains. He bit his lower lip in thought.

"But if we use these, won't it just provoke them?"

Mrs. Weasley let out a weary sigh. "I have no doubt they'll start flying out at us as soon as we start spraying. And yes, we'll have to cover our faces when we use it. That's what _these_ are for," she indicated the cloths she just set down. "But we have little choice; I've never seen an infestation this bad—_what_ that house-elf Kreacher has been doing for the last ten years—"

The Fentons shared glances, both wondering what a house-elf even was, but supposing they'd find out soon enough.

"Now run along and get yourselves some breakfast before the other kids take all the food. I'm just getting things set up here," said Mrs. Weasley as she continued to organize the de-doxying tools on the table and the sofa.

The Fentons didn't budge. After a moment of thoughtful silence between them, Danielle heard her cousin's voice inside her head.

_You think it's time to return our little favor?_

Danielle barely kept herself from shrugging. With the telepathic technique still fairly new to both of them, it was hard to remember not to respond physically to what one was saying to the other one's head that no one else could hear, even if Mrs. Weasley wasn't currently looking.

_With everyone else eating, not as many people are watching. _Danielle pointed out, mentally.

_True. _Danny thought back.

If it was inevitable that the Wizarding World was going to find out about their powers sooner or later, the cousin hybrids had already agreed that they would much rather leak it out little by little with the people that seemed trustworthy enough rather than possibly start a panic in revealing everything at once. And at least with this sort of set-up, they would get a better idea of how some of the rest of the Wizarding World would react to their abnormality.

"What do you plan to do with the doxies after using the spray?" Danny asked Mrs. Weasley as he slowly stepped towards the curtains, rubbing his chin as he looked at them analytically.

Mrs. Weasley's back was turned as she continued setting up. "After the Doxycide paralyzes them, we'll put them in that bucket on the table to throw out."

"So, the end goal is just to get them out of the house?" clarified Danielle.

She looked over at Danny who seemed to have formed a plan in his head. He held up his hands as they began to glow with a light-blue aura.

Mrs. Weasley scoffed, her back still turned. "Well wouldn't that be nice if they would all just go outside. But sadly it won't be as easy as—"

A small, explosive sound and a flash of bright blue light cut her off as Danny extended his palms towards the curtains, releasing beams of energy that shrouded the whole window. Mrs. Weasley's head spun around. Once the light had faded, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped in seeing that the curtains were now completely encased in a thick layer of ice.

"Think that did it?" asked Danny to Danielle.

"It's not buzzing anymore." Danielle commented when she found that the curtains had now fallen completely silent.

She approached the window, turned her hand intangible and reached through the ice, grabbing the fabric of one of the curtains. Danny did the same with the other side. Then, both pulled the curtains completely free of the ice as they were simply lifted up and out before returned to their solid state and allowed to drape across the block again. Then the Fenton's pulled the curtains aside, letting the morning sun filter through the new, transparent wall of ice that had a whole nest of the little black doxies completely frozen stiff with surprised expressions on their tiny faces. Danny had frozen them so fast, they looked like they barely had any time to realize what had happened, let alone move to escape.

Mrs. Weasley slowly inched her way to the window, finding the doxies completely immobilized in such a short time without the use of the Doxycide. "Is—Is that ice?" she said, flabbergasted as she reached out a hesitant finger to touch the ice-block. "How did you…?" Her sentence trailed off as she stared between the two Fentons.

Danny tried to ignore her expression as he squinted through the doxy-filled ice-wall, peering out the window. "We're one story up. The ice will break." He said to his cousin.

"I'll catch it outside," said Danielle, quickly spinning around and heading for the door. Once out of the room and out of sight of Mrs. Weasley, she quickly transformed and phased right out of the house, unnoticed.

Back in the drawing room, Mrs. Weasley was looking at Danny as if seeing him for the first time.

"The point is to get these guys outside, right?" Danny simply asked.

Mrs. Weasley blinked, understanding better what had been meant by this question before. "Well, yes but…this looks far too big to get through the door and…isn't it heavy? What did she mean by _catch it_?"

_Ready_. Danny heard Danielle's telepathic signal. With that, he put his hands on the doxy-ice-block, turned the whole thing intangible and gently pushed it through the wall like it weighed barely anything.

Mrs. Weasley's eyes widened even more and she stood there, stunned that the ice and the doxies just vanished with a push. She suddenly sped to the window, feeling at the glass and the curtains, finding them completely clean now. Not a sign of any doxy, leftover eggs, or even dust before opening the window and looking down where she saw the ice-block now outside on the ground, leaning against the house with Danielle (now back in her human form) standing at its foot. Danielle noticed her staring and waved up to her with a grin.

"How on earth did you lower that down yourself?" Mrs. Weasley called down, visually comparing the size of Danielle to the very wide, flat but still thick chunk of ice that had to have weighed at least 200 pounds.

"She's stronger than she looks. Trust me," was all Danny said in response.

Both watched Danielle as she ran a thoughtful hand across the ice. "Hey Danny, I've got an idea," she called up to her cousin, giving the block a final pat. "I'll be right back."

"Think you'll find this place again?" said Danny

"I'll find _you_ if nothing else." said Danielle.

"True." said Danny with a shrug and a smirk before pulling the windowpanes shut. Just after doing this though, he heard Danielle's cheeky voice in his head, _Good luck with the explaining part,_ followed by a mischievous giggle. Danny let out a sigh, having the subtle impression that Danielle had just loaded him up with the hard part on purpose.

"_Be back_?" Mrs. Weasley repeated as she followed Danny away from the window; this was exactly what Danny hoped, as to prevent her from seeing Danielle Go Ghost and carry the chunk of ice away all by herself, even despite the slight feeling of vengeance for her little prank. But he'd get back at her soon enough. He always did. It was an ongoing battle between them that they sometimes kept up just to annoy the other members of their family. Not just each other.

"And where is she going?" Mrs. Weasley was still saying.

Danny only shrugged. "You wanted to get rid of the doxies. She's just helping out."

"But…I've never seen spells like that!" —Danielle had barely gotten herself out of sight when Mrs. Weasley had turned to face the window again, looking awestruck— "Freezing an entire wall solid and then simply removing what you don't want from the wall…"

"Don't know why you're so surprised. I've seen you guys make things appear out of thin air just as easily." Danny shrugged innocently.

"But already wordlessly. And without a wand? I don't know of any wizard alive who could possibly do that. And at your age?"

This was starting to feel a bit awkward. Perhaps this was too much at once after all for an overprotective mother to take in.

"You're not scared are you?" said Danny nervously.

"Oh…no." said Mrs. Weasley, rather uncertainly. "It's just…Dumbledore had said that the two of you had a different sort of magic that we might not be used to, it's just…this wasn't quite what I had expected when he...what sort of magic _was_ that?"

"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you." said Danny sheepishly. "Hey, listen, you don't mind keeping quiet about it for now, do you? I know you guys must be tired of us being so secretive but…I'm not sure we're ready to break the news to everyone just yet."

Mrs. Weasley stared at him for a moment before she replied, "Well, may I at least tell the rest of the Order?"

"Uh…I think it would work out better if _I_ was the one to tell them," said Danny hesitantly, scratching the back of his head.

Mrs. Weasley paused in thought before letting out a sigh. "Well, all right then. They're _your_ talents I suppose." Then she turned to the curtains, running an inspecting hand through the now completely clean and doxy-free velvet.

"Still, they certainly seem to be efficient as far as house-chores go. Not to mention…far less messy," she added with a bit of a laugh.

Danny scoffed, smiling at the irony that the use of his powers hardly ever made things cleaner than how it started, considering what he mainly used them for. He watched Mrs. Weasley walk over to the table where she had previously laid the bucket, the Doxycide cans, and the cloths.

"I suppose we won't be needing _these_ anymore," she said with another laugh as she started to gather them up.

"Oh, here." Danny hurried to help collect the now unneeded supplies.

"So…what else do you use that freezing spell for? If you don't mind my asking." Mrs. Weasley inquired as they both found a good place to set the supplies aside.

"Um…well…" Danny thought for a second, debating the wisdom of what he had in mind. Coming to a still hesitant decision, he held up his hands that started to glow with the soft blue color that cued his Phantom Phreeze. Mrs. Weasley watched transfixed as a small crystal formed within the blue light, hovering in mid-air between his palms.

"Oh." Mrs. Weasley said softly as she slowly reached out as if to touch the little crystal. Her hand stopped for a second and she looked at Danny as if asking his approval.

Danny had a sudden thought and with a little more concentration, the small crystal grew and reshaped into the form of a simple little flower; A poppy. Then he stretched out his glowing hand, presenting it to Mrs. Weasley who gently plucked it from mid-air with her thumb and forefinger.

"It's still ice, so it won't last long." said Danny. The glow in his hands dispersed as he lowered them back down to his sides.

"It's lovely." Mrs. Weasley said with a smile. "Thank you, dear."

Danny smiled modestly, also relieved that her alarm of that particular power seemed to have subsided. Women had a tendency to like crafts; and what better than a flower?

"It's a great pastime when I'm bored; See what kinds of things I can make out of ice," said Danny casually. "When Danielle sees me doing it, she likes making bizarre suggestions like a monster vacuum cleaner or cartoon depictions of people we know."

"So you sculpt with it as well as freeze anything?" Mrs. Weasley said as she found a vase on the table to put the ice-flower in. The vase was cracked and very dusty, but it was better than leaving an ice-sculpture on the tabletop itself to melt. The excess water it would leave behind could be used to clean it later anyway.

"I've had more practice with some things than others." replied Danny with a shrug. "I have a sister back home that challenged me to do a rose before, but they're definitely tougher than geometric shapes." He pointed at the ice-poppy in the vase. "_That's_ one of the only organic shapes I've been able to do a good job on so far. Being artsy with that power isn't really my thing." Danny scoffed looking down at the floor. "Makes me wonder what would have happened if Danielle was the one who had the ice power instead of me."

"You mean she doesn't know how to do that spell?"

"No." Danny decided to leave out the part that she wasn't even physically capable. "But then again, I could never do the kinds of things she can with fire." Mrs. Weasley stared. "How do you think she set the dementor ablaze?"

"Ah." Mrs. Weasley nodded in understanding.

"I'm back!" said a voice from the direction of the window.

Danny and Mrs. Weasley turned to see that Danielle had returned, rubbing her hands together in a job well done. "Doxies out of sight and out of mind."

"What did you do with them?" said Danny curiously.

"Took them to a forest somewhere. Defrosted 'em."

"How did you do that?" Mrs. Weasley interrupted with a stunned voice that made the Fentons turn towards her. She was standing there, looking around the room as if she had just missed something. "You shouldn't be able to Apperate from the outside of this house."

Now the Fenton's were the ones looking confused.

"You know, the instant transportation of one's self from one place to another," explained Mrs. Weasley.

After a second of thought, Danielle caught on. "Oh! You mean that teleport thing I saw Mundungus do?"

"You guys can teleport?" said Danny instantly, turning to a still perplexed Mrs. Weasley.

"If…that's your word for Apperating…" she said slowly.

Danny threw his hands in the air. "Oh man! I find a whole civilization that can do a trick I've been trying to so much as tap into for years? That's _so_ not fair!"

"I know, seriously." Danielle complained. "What I wouldn't give to not have to pay to ride another one of those overpriced claustrophobic airplanes again."

"You have your _plasma rocket_." Danny pointed out bluntly.

"Which totally saps my energy. I can't use that for global travel."

"Not yet. And you can still use it to travel a whole lot faster than _I_ can."

Mrs. Weasley was now completely lost in the jumble of Muggle vocabulary that she had only heard from Arthur being mixed with other unfamiliar terms these two kids were using. It also confused her that Danny could be eighteen and still not know how to Apperate. After a moment, they noticed her staring and stopped arguing. They looked at her as if waiting for her to say something.

"But…if you can't Apperate…how did you get in here?" said Mrs. Weasley.

"The window," replied Danielle simply, indicating the window behind her that she had actually phased through after having set the doxies free in the forest.

Mrs. Weasley blinked, noticing that the window was barred and remembering that they were up one story. But she shook the confusion out of her head. The kids had already shown her within ten minutes more than she was able to understand and digest for perhaps the next day or so. If that alone was barely enough for her to handle, then perhaps it _was_ better that she let them keep their secrets. After all, it wasn't any easier to explain how the Wizarding World worked to a Muggle, if they were willing to listen. And Danny was of age by both Muggle and Wizard law. If his parents trusted him enough to allow him to be overseas on his own, taking care of his cousin, surely they considered him old enough to know what he was doing in regards to his magic. Further, Dumbledore said that he had seen more of what they can do and had reason to trust the both of them.

"Well. Anyhow," said Mrs. Weasley decisively rubbing her hands together. "Er…you've not had breakfast yet. Let's give you some feeding up and we can work on the house later with the help of the others."

She gently guided the Fentons by the shoulders out the door and down the stairs towards the kitchen. Before they reached the landing, Danny looked at her with a bit of relief on his face, saying softly, "Thanks for understanding." Then he and Danielle entered the kitchen where the other kids and Sirius Black had already sat down and served themselves.

"Morning, new kids!" Fred and George said together with a wave in seeing the Fentons enter.

"Change in plans," Mrs. Weasley announced once she had followed the Fentons through the doorway. "We'll be tackling those glass cabinets once everyone is done eating."

"I thought you said the doxy problem was worse than you thought," said Ginny between bites of scrambled eggs.

"S'pose I was wrong," said Mrs. Weasley with a shrug.

"But you were even grimacing about how bad the infestation was." said Sirius.

"I had some…unexpected help," said Mrs. Weasley, glancing a grateful look at the Fentons. "Quite willing to work these two." Then she looked over at Ron. "You might just try following their example."

Ron shrugged with an expression of, 'What are you looking at _me_ for?'.

"Well where are the doxies now?" asked Fred.

"Not here, thank goodness," said Mrs. Weasley with relief.

"But what did you do with them?" said George, a little more anxiously than the Fentons thought should have been necessary.

"Set them free in a forest somewhere. Why does it matter?" Danielle answered.

Fred and George looked at each other with a mixture of confusion and disappointment before their faces fell.

"What's wrong?" asked Harry, leaning towards them in noticing their melancholy.

"We wanted to experiment with the doxy venom for our skiving snackboxes," said Fred in an undertone as to not be overheard by his mother.

Danielle still heard though. Previous experience had taught her to be mindful of her surroundings, particularly by sound. This gave her a knack for singling out conversations that no one ever thought she could hear from that far away. She didn't like what she had heard from Fred either. In fact, she was now relieved that she had already set the doxies free. Even with Danny's parents being inventors themselves and understanding that some experimentation had to take place to test the functionality of their latest inventions, at least they made sure all possible safety measures were taken and that the ghost-kids were okay with it, physically and emotionally, if the need to test on either of them ever did occur. The idea of Fred and George simply taking a part of a living creature that made it what it was, even if it was a parasite, and using it for their own purposes…it was enough to make Danielle feel queasy in being reminded of Vlad Plasmius.

Meanwhile, Harry looked around at the other kids gathered at the table, noticing that Hermione had stopped eating and was looking deep in thought.

"Hermione?" said Harry, snapping his fingers to get her attention.

Hermione blinked back into reality. After a short glance at the other end of the table where light conversation was now taking place between the twins, the Fentons and the adults, she leaned in closer to say in an undertone, "We're miles away from any forest. Danielle's too young to Apperate."

Harry shrugged. "Maybe the age restrictions are different in America. And who's to say her cousin wasn't the one who Apperated?"

"But we never even saw them come downstairs to leave the house, let alone with a load of doxies," said Hermione.

"Blimey, you're right." Ron whispered, eyeing the Fentons suspiciously. "And you know, if the doxy problem was as bad as mum was making it out to be, it probably should have taken several hours to round them up. The Fentons had to have been up only half an hour ago. I bet we just missed a whole secret exchange that we didn't even know was happening in that room."

"They _are_ fairly private. Even with the Order." Harry said quietly in thought. "They also said just last night that their magic was different from ours."

"Think Fred and George are right about them having the weapon?" Ron asked.

Mrs. Weasley was looking suspiciously in their direction, so their conversation ended there.

Fifteen minutes later, everyone was once again in the drawing room. The ice-poppy Danny had made earlier had melted enough by this time that it could not be seen unless you looked from over the top, right inside the vase (which no one cared to, so no one bothered to ask where it came from). Everyone now stood in front of dusty glass-fronted cabinets that stood on either side of the mantelpiece. They were crammed with an odd assortment of objects that the Fentons neither recognized, nor were comfortable in looking at.

As Danielle was eyeing several of the curious artifacts behind the glass pane, Sirius walked in carrying a bloodstained bag of what appeared to be dead rats. "I've just been feeding Buckbeak," he said in reply to Harry's inquiring look. "I keep him upstairs in my mother's bedroom." Then he added to the questioning expression Danny was giving him, "Buckbeak is a hippogriff friend of mine."

"Not to mention partner in crime." Fred put in jokingly.

Sirius smirked, but ignored him. "Perhaps one of the kids could introduce you and your cousin to him later. Anyway…this writing desk…"

He dropped the bag of rats onto an armchair and then bent over to examine the locked cabinet, which the Fentons now noticed for the first time was shaking slightly.

"Well, Molly, I'm pretty sure this is a boggart," said Sirius, peering through the keyhole, "but perhaps we ought to let Mad-Eye have a shifty at it before we let it out—knowing my mother, it could be something much worse."

"Right you are, Sirius," said Mrs. Weasley.

They were both speaking in carefully light, polite voices that told Danielle quite plainly that neither had forgotten their disagreement of the night before.

"What do you mean by a _shifty_?" asked Danny, looking at Sirius.

"That big eye of Mad-Eye's is a magical one." Sirius explained, straightening up. "It can see through solid objects. Even invisibility cloaks."

"X-ray vision, huh." said Danny with an interested nod, then he directed towards Danielle telepathically, _Wonder if he can also see _us_ when we're invisible._

A loud clanging bell sounded from downstairs, followed at once by the cacophony of screams and wails that had been triggered by Ginny's loud protests to her mother the previous night.

"I keep telling them not to ring the doorbell!" said Sirius exasperatedly, hurrying back out of the room. They heard him thundering down the stairs as the screeches echoed up through the house. This time Danielle could actually tell what the screams were saying: _Stains of dishonor, filthy half-breeds, blood traitors, children of filth…_

"Stay here, kids," said Mrs. Weasley after having looked out the window Danny had cleaned earlier. "Don't start on the cabinets until we get back." Then with a specific look at the Fentons, "You never know what we'll find in them."

She left the room, closing the door carefully behind her. At once, everyone dashed over to the window to look down onto the doorstep. They could see the top of an unkempt gingery head and a stack of precariously balanced cauldrons. (Danielle noticed a few of the kids take on confused expressions that they could see so clearly through the window in the first place.)

"Mundungus!" said Hermione, after running a finger over the sill, finding it completely free of dust and grime. "What's he brought all those cauldrons for?"

"Probably looking for a safe place to keep them," said Harry. "Isn't that what he was doing the night he was supposed to be tailing me? Picking up dodgy cauldrons?"

"He's sure pushing his luck," said Danielle, shaking her head disappointedly. "Shirking off duty and then having the nerve to ask them to hide the _reason_ he ditched."

"And he's in the Order, _why_?" said Danny, folding his arms.

At that precise moment, there was an explosion of sound from downstairs that everyone could hear loud and clear through the closed door.

"WE ARE NOT RUNNING A HIDEOUT FOR STOLEN GOODS!" Mrs. Weasley was shouting at the top of her voice.

"Mum wonders the same thing at times," said George in response to Danny's question as they all hurried to the door to try and hear the conversation happening downstairs.

"I love hearing mum shouting at someone else," said Fred with a satisfied smile on his face as he opened the door an inch or so to allow Mrs. Weasley's voice to permeate the room better. "It makes for a nice change."

"—COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE, AS IF WE HAVEN'T GOT ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT WITHOUT YOU DRAGGING STOLEN CAULDRONS INTO THE HOUSE—"

"The idiot's letting her get into her stride," said George, shaking his head. "You've got to cut her off early otherwise she builds up a head of steam and goes on for hours. "

"Sounds like _my_ mom." Danny commented with a scoff, folding his arms with a smile.

"_And_ your sister. _And_ your girlfriend." Danielle added, playfully nudging Danny in the arm for each one.

Danny used the same arm she was nudging to quickly pull her into a headlock, giving her a noogie. "And _me_ if you keep that up." He bantered back triumphantly, knowing that Danielle wouldn't be able to escape so easily without intangibility that the others would definitely notice.

The other kids couldn't help but smile at the way the two cousins were teasing each other. Fred and George actually laughed before Danielle managed to break free of Danny's hold.

George was still chuckling a bit when he continued, "Well, mum's been dying to have a go at Mundungus ever since he snuck off when he was supposed to be following you, Harry—and there goes Sirius's mum again—"

Danielle was trying to fix her hair to how it was before Danny ruffled it up. "Is _that_ what that screaming is?" she said, noticing that Mrs. Weasley's voice had gotten lost amid fresh shrieks and screams from the moving portraits in the hall.

"Yup: That big ugly portrait of the charming old lady," said George, shutting the door to drown the noise. "Always have to keep on your toes in that hall or she wakes up whatever _else_ might be in the house."

"Why don't you just take it down then?" said Danny with a confused shrug.

"We tried." replied Ginny. "Sirius reckons his mum put a permanent sticking charm on the back of it. We can't get it to budge. Magically or not."

At that moment, the door opened again. At first, Danielle thought it was Sirius or Mrs. Weasley coming back in, but instead, a strange elf creature edged into the room.

All it had for clothing was a filthy rag hanging limply from its shoulders with holes for the arms. The creature looked very old. Its skin seemed to be several sizes too big for it and though it was bald, there was a quantity of white hair growing out of its large, batlike ears. Its eyes were bloodshot and watery gray, and its fleshy nose was large and rather snoutlike.

The elf took absolutely no notice of Danielle and the rest. Acting as though it could not see them, it shuffled hunchbacked, slowly and doggedly, towards the far end of the room, muttering under its breath all the while in a hoarse, deep voice like a bullfrogs, "…Smells like a drain and a criminal to boot, but she's no better, nasty old blood traitor with her brats messing up my Mistress's house, oh my poor Mistress, if she knew, if she knew the scum they've let into her house, what would she say to old Kreacher, oh the shame of it, Mudbloods and werewolves and traitors and thieves, poor old Kreacher, what can he do…"

"Hello, Kreacher," said Fred very loudly, closing the door with a snap.

The elf froze in his tracks, stopped muttering, and then gave a very pronounced and very unconvincing start of surprise.

"Kreacher did not see Young Master," he said, turning around and bowing to Fred. Still facing the carpet, he added, perfectly audibly, "Nasty little brat of a blood traitor it is."

"Sorry?" said George. "Didn't catch that last bit."

"Kreacher said nothing," said the elf, with a second bow to George, adding in a clear undertone, "and there's its twin, unnatural little beasts they are."

Danny and Danielle looked at each with raised eyebrows, not sure what to make of the strange little creature that was clearly insane. Evidently, this was Harry's first encounter with him as well because he wore an expression as if trying to decide whether or not to laugh.

The elf straightened up, eyeing all of them malevolently, and apparently convinced that they could not hear him as he continued to mutter.

"…and there's the Mudblood, standing there bold as brass, oh if my Mistress knew, oh how she'd cry, and there is a new boy, Kreacher does not know his name, what he is doing here, Kreacher does not know…"

"This is Harry, Kreacher," said Hermione tentatively. "Harry Potter."

Kreacher's pale eyes widened and he muttered faster and more furiously than ever.

"The Mudblood is talking to Kreacher as though she is my friend, if Kreacher's Mistress saw him in such company, oh what would she say—"

"Don't call her a Mudblood!" said Ron and Ginny together, very angrily.

"It doesn't matter," Hermione whispered, "he's not in his right mind, he doesn't know what he's—"

"Don't kid yourself, Hermione, he knows _exactly_ what he's saying," said Fred, eyeing Kreacher with great dislike.

"What's wrong? What's a Mudblood?" said Danny, ignoring that Kreacher was still muttering, his eyes now on Harry.

"—Is it true? Is it Harry Potter? Kreacher can see the scar, it must be true, that's that boy who stopped the Dark Lord—"

"You don't know?" said Ron, also ignoring Kreacher and staring at Danny, surprised.

"Different continent: call us stupid." Danielle said bluntly, folding her arms the same way Danny already was, looking at Ron as though he were the one being stupid.

"Mudblood's a really nasty word for a witch or wizard with Muggle parents," said Ginny.

"There are pompous wizard families that take pride in their magical ancestry. Consider themselves royalty in being _Pure-blood_," said George.

"Well that's prejudice if I've ever seen it," said Danielle, sharing a knowing look with Danny.

"I don't suppose these same people feel the same about half-humans," asked Danny, remembering the word _half-breed_ being among the many insults the portrait of Mrs. Black was screaming a bit ago.

"You mean like centaurs, mermaids—" Fred listed off.

"—giants, werewolves—" continued George.

"Any of them." Danny said with a shrug, having no intention of getting specific.

The Weasley twins both rolled their eyes.

"I think that portrait of this house's previous owner can answer that well enough for you," said Fred.

"I figured," concluded Danny, then adding towards Danielle, non-verbally, _Racism: You can never escape it, can you. _

_Even more glad we decided to lay low for now. _Danielle added.

That's when Danielle noticed that Kreacher had turned his attention towards the pair of them, muttering under his breath.

"And there is another set of twins."

"Cousins." The Fentons said at once in unison.

Kreacher hardly acknowledged as he continued muttering. "Kreacher doesn't know their blood status. No doubt of the same variety of scum to be mingling with Mudbloods and blood traitors and the like."

"What are you up to, Kreacher?" said a voice behind them.

Sirius had come back and he was glowering at the elf from the doorway. The noise in the hall had abated; perhaps Mrs. Weasley and Mundungus had moved their argument down into the kitchen. At the sight of Sirius, Kreacher flung himself into a ridiculously low bow that flattened his shoutlike nose against the floor.

"Kreacher is cleaning," said the elf. "Kreacher lives to serve the noble house of Black—"

"—and it's getting blacker every day, it's filthy," said Sirius.

"Master always liked his little joke," said Kreacher, bowing again, and continuing in an undertone, "Master was a nasty ungrateful swine that broke his mother's heart—"

"My mother didn't have a heart, Kreacher," Sirius snapped. "She kept herself alive out of pure spite. Now away with you!"

Kreacher bowed again and said, "Whatever Master says," then he muttered furiously, "Comes back from Azkaban ordering Kreacher around, oh my poor Mistress, what would she say if she saw the house now, scum living in it, her treasures thrown out, she swore he was no son of hers, they say he's a murderer too—"

"Keep muttering like that and I will be a murderer!" said Sirius irritably, and he slammed the door shut on the elf.

Danielle was rather stunned by Sirius's behavior. She had already heard in the meeting with the Order the night before that Sirius was a falsely accused criminal that had escaped the wizard prison a few years ago and she had gathered him to be a pretty nice person. Seeing him act in such a fashion towards the elf (odd as he was) had taken her aback.

Shaking off her shock, Danielle cleared her throat. "I take it that was the house-elf we've been hearing about," she said to no one in particular.

"Some house-elf," said Sirius, folding his arms with a frown and turning away from the door. "Saying he's cleaning when he hasn't for ten years, always sneaking something off to his room so we can't throw it out. He never was very pleasant in the first place, even when I was a boy. Not to _me_ anyway."

"So a house-elf is like a butler to a wizard family?" said Danny, trying to clarify.

"More like a slave," said Hermione defiantly before turning to Sirius hopefully. "Sirius, if you'd just set him free, maybe—"

"We can't set him free. He knows too much about the Order," said Sirius curtly. "And anyway, the shock would kill him. You suggest to him that he leaves this house, see how he takes it."

Sirius walked across the room where a tapestry of an immensely old family tree hung the length of the wall. Danielle looked passed him, skimming over several of the names and dates that were on some of the branches.

Mrs. Weasley walked in soon after, looking frustrated (most likely about Mundungus) before taking a deep breath. "Right. Let's get to work on those cabinets now, shall we?"

It was a job much easier said than done. The Fentons didn't feel it a good idea to provide any ghostly assistance on the many objects that were very reluctant to leave their dusty shelves. Not while so many people were watching. Sirius sustained a bad bite from a silver snuffbox; within seconds, his bitten hand had developed an unpleasant crusty covering like a tough brown glove.

"It's okay," he said, examining the hand with interest before tapping it lightly with his wand and restoring its skin to normal, "must be Wartcap powder in there."

He threw the box aside into the sack where they were depositing the debris from the cabinets; Danielle noticed George wrap his own hand carefully in a cloth moments later and sneak the box into his pocket.

"Just wish we could have gotten hold of some of those doxies too," she heard him say to Fred in an undertone.

As the cleaning progressed, Danielle kept catching bits of conversation between the twins and Harry about the _skiving snackboxes_ that she remembered them mentioning earlier. She became distracted in hearing about the twins' plans to open a joke-shop when the feeling of something unexpected made her gasp and withdraw her hand from the shelf she was sweeping over.

"What's the matter?" said Harry.

"Something bite _you_ this time?" said Sirius.

"Are you getting a reaction?" said Hermione.

"I've got a bottle of antidote right here if you need it…" Mrs. Weasley offered.

"Sheesh, you'd think you guys were _her_ family," said Danny, almost laughing.

"I'm fine," said Danielle with a smile before peering back on the shelf where her hand had been before. "It just…felt weird is all."

"What did?" said Fred.

"Weird how?" said George.

"Please tell me it's not hairy and has eight legs," said Ron backing away.

Danielle cautiously put her hand back in the cabinet, feeling around the shelf until her fingers came across the strange reaction again on a hard object near the back. She slowly pulled it out, finding it to be a heavy golden locket the size of a chicken's egg. An ornate letter S was inlaid on the front with many small green stones. Everyone looked at it incredulously.

"Doesn't seem like anything dangerous to me." said Fred, taking the locket from Danielle and turning it over in his hands. Evidently he hadn't felt the same aura that Danielle had sensed coming off it.

"I still wouldn't open that if I were you," said Sirius warningly. "Not after the death-tune music box."

"I can't _get_ it to open." said Fred as he was using his fingers to try to get the little doors to unclasp.

"Let me see." Danny offered curiously.

After one final grunting attempt to pry it open, Fred sighed and tossed the locket over to Danny. To everyone's surprise, upon contact with the locket, Danny shuddered violently, nearly dropping the locket and taking an unexpected step backward.

"Whoa!"

"You feel it too?" asked Danielle, knowing for sure that he felt the same sensation she had when she touched it.

"That is _really_ creepy," said Danny, staring at the locket and deciding to hold it by the chain instead. The way he did so, it was as if he was afraid some form of infection might come off it. He almost started wishing he were in his more protective ghost form as he held the locket lightly in his fingers.

"What's with you two?" said Ron with a screwed up face as he unceremoniously took the locket right out of Danny's hands. Despite Ron's lack of manners in just snatching it from him, Danny actually felt better about not having to hold it anymore. Ron raised the locket to his eyelevel before looking at him and Danielle quizzically. "I don't feel _anything_."

Both Fentons simply replied in unison, "It's complicated."

"Well if it's affecting you in any negative way, then all the more reason to throw it out," said Sirius, holding out his hand towards Ron.

After Ron's own attempt to open the locket failed, he shrugged, handing it to Sirius who tossed it into the sack.

Everyone else went back to work, not having any second thoughts about the locket, but the Fentons kept eyeing it, unable to forget the feeling it gave them when they had been handling it. Since they were the only ones that noticed this about the locket, they had already privately guessed it had something to do with their ghost-powers. Danielle was faintly reminded of how her ghost-sense reacted around the dementors, only this time is was more definite and very dark in a way that almost made her feel sick.

As the work on the cabinets continued and the locket kept lingering in the back of Danielle's mind, Kreacher sidled into the room several times, attempting to smuggle things away under his filthy garment, muttering horrible curses every time someone caught him at it. When Sirius wrestled a large golden ring bearing the Black crest from his grip, Kreacher actually burst into furious tears and left the room sobbing under his breath and calling Sirius names Danielle had never heard before in all three years of her existence.

"It was my father's," said Sirius, throwing the ring into the sack.

He started going on more about it but Danielle wasn't listening, for she had noticed a sort of dark presence had left the room the same time as Kreacher. Looking down at the sack, she was having the idea that the ring wasn't the only thing the house-elf had tried to smuggle out this time. While everyone else was busy sorting through the things in the cabinets, she carefully made her own way out of the room.

Once out of sight, she turned herself invisible and hurried silently up the stairs phasing inside every room she passed, looking for Kreacher. There was one room where she found a great feathered animal the size of a full-grown horse with the head and wings of an eagle that nearly made her jump at the mere size of it. She assumed it to be the hippogriff Buckbeak and was quite grateful to have been invisible when she had entered the room, having no idea how such a fearsome-looking beast would react to a complete stranger. And those talons looked pretty sharp. Though she found her curiosity piqued as she carefully phased out of the room, wondering if wizards often kept creatures like that as pets.

As she proceeded down the hall, she heard a series of thumping noises and a sorrowful cry coming from another room up ahead. Still invisible, she phased through the wall into this room and saw Kreacher with the locket she had discovered earlier. He was swinging it around, banging the amulet against the leg of a desk as if trying to break it open, his face looking sorely desperate all the while. When that didn't seem to work, he hurriedly snapped his fingers and an explosion happened that made Danielle flinch back the same time the locket jumped. Surprisingly, when the smoke cleared, the locket simply lay there on the floor without so much as a scratch or a singe-mark.

Kreacher's face was already tearstained, but now he let out a pitiful moan of agony and, to Danielle's horror, he ran to the desk and started banging his head hard against the leg.

Danielle couldn't help herself from gasping aloud. She let off her invisibility and sprung over to the house-elf, grabbing him by his scrawney little arm and pulling him as far away from the desk as her arm-span would allow.

"Unhand Kreacher at once, outside filth!" Kreacher protested, struggling against Danielle's grip with disgust.

"So you can keep caving your own head in?" said Danielle in shock, still holding Kreacher by the arm.

Kreacher pulled his free fist back and gave himself a good punch in the face that made him fall backwards. The surprise of it was enough to get Danielle to let go, but when he pulled his fist back to strike himself again, still laying on the floor, she grabbed his wrist just in time. Kreacher struggled against her, angry tears streaming down his wrinkled face.

"Kreacher must punish himself for disobeying Master's orders. The house-elf's highest law is to his master's bidding," said Kreacher through hysterical sobs.

"Sirius never told you _anything_ you disobeyed just now. He didn't even notice you took the locket," said Danielle giving Kreacher a concerned and confused look as she regretfully kept his arms pinned against the floor. She was careful not to be too tight on them though as his wrists felt so small and fragile, she was afraid they'd break if she gripped any tighter.

Kreacher shook his head weakly, his eyes still streaming with tears as his body finally went limp. "Kreacher has failed Master _Regulus's_ orders."

"Who's…" Danielle stopped when her memory shifted back to the image of the tapestry in the drawing room. She remembered seeing the name _Regulus_ on the family tree, though she couldn't quite recall where. When she felt sure that Kreacher wasn't going to try to hurt himself again, she slowly let him up.

"Why? What did he tell you to do?" she asked, scooting to the side as Kreacher sat himself up.

"Kreacher tells no secrets of the Master's." Kreacher said defiantly before burying his face in his hands and shaking his head, muttering sadly, "My poor Master, his last request unfulfilled, Kreacher failed his Master…"

Last request. This was interesting. Maybe it was a good thing Kreacher had picked up the habit of unintentionally speaking his mind. Danielle stared, kneeling on the floor in thought. "Does this have something to do with that locket?" she asked softly.

Kreacher's eyes widened and he muttered very fast under his breath, "The little brat knows of the locket…what should Kreacher do?"

"You took that locket that we were trying to throw out," said Danielle.

"Kreacher has no locket!" Kreacher said angrily, scooting himself away from Danielle.

"I saw you just now. You were trying to break it before you started the one-man fistfight with yourself."

Kreacher scuttled to his feet and dove for the locket that had been left on the floor, then he hurriedly waddled under the desk, hunching protectively over it.

Danielle crawled a little ways towards him from behind before she knelt back down, saying slowly, "There's something about it that's…not right. Isn't there."

Kreacher said nothing, but Danielle noticed his head turn, just slightly.

"Did your master know about it? Did he want you to destroy it?"

"Kreacher keeps his Master's secrets!" Kreacher said furiously, holding the locket tightly to his chest, keeping it from Danielle's sight. "Kreacher tells nothing to filth."

Danielle shook her head with a sigh. "Okay, then don't tell me, but can I at least see the locket?" She stretched out her hand.

Kreacher flinched away from her, retreating into the shadows of the underside of the desk, practically curling over the locket now. "Foreign scum will not take Master Regulus's locket!"

"I won't give it back to Sirius." Danielle said at once, her hand still outstretched. "I just want to try something. I want to get rid of it too."

"Kreacher has tried everything he knows and Kreacher is unable to scratch it. No foreigner of undoubtedly shameful origins could ever do much better," said Kreacher distastefully.

_Like family, like butler._ Danielle thought with a roll of her eyes. Always jumping to conclusions.

"Let's find out then, shall we?" she suggested. "If my idea doesn't work, you can have it back and I won't say another word about it. To _anyone_."

There was a moment's pause before Kreacher slowly turned to look at her, still clutching the locket tightly in his little hands. Danielle didn't move. She just kept her hand outstretched, trying to look as harmless and sincere as possible.

"Strange behavior of this foreigner. Kreacher doesn't trust her," he muttered.

"I know we don't know each other very well and I get the feeling you don't like me very much, or frankly _anyone_ in this house, but I never break a promise." said Danielle, stretching out her hand just a little more. "I just want to help." She added softly.

Kreacher looked between Danielle's hand and her face as if she was something he had never seen before. To be fair, the feeling was mutual, as she had never seen a house-elf before this day.

"It is Kreacher's duty to serve the Black wizard family." said Kreacher, though Danielle saw him physically relaxing a little. "Why would a strange witch want to do anything in service to Kreacher, he wonders?"

"If I can destroy the thing like your master wanted, what does it matter?" said Danielle, trying not to sound impatient. "I'll let you have it back right after I've tried my own method. I _promise_."

There was a long silence in which Danielle waited, watching Kreacher, who continued to stare her right in the eyes as if probing her.

"Let me just see if there's something I can do to help you finish the job your master wanted done. You don't have to keep torturing yourself over this." After a pause, she added as sincerely as possible, "Please? Can I just try?"

After what felt like an hour that was only about two minutes, Kreacher slowly stood up and crept out from under the desk. His hands shook as he hesitantly opened them up, revealing the locket as he looked at it hatefully, and yet hopefully at the same time.

"Kreacher senses sincerity in this…strange young witch." He muttered, still staring at Danielle before he reluctantly stretched out his small hands, setting the locket gently in her palm.

A sudden and yet faint rush of dark heat flowed through Danielle as soon as the metal pressed against her skin. Having expected it this time, she managed to keep herself from shuddering. She looked at the locket, rubbing her thumb across the _S_ on the front as the sickening feeling came to her again.

"Do you…notice anything…different when you hold this?" Danielle asked as she remained kneeling on the floor. When Kreacher's staring only continued, Danielle thought for a moment, wondering how she was going to explain this. "It's like it's…alive," she said, finally pinning it down as she continued staring at the locket as if something about it was hypnotizing her. "Like there's something…evil…squirming around inside. Do you notice anything like that?"

"Kreacher merely knows it is Dark Magic." said Kreacher with a shrug.

"And that's why your master said to destroy it before he died?" said Danielle, finally looking up at Kreacher. "He knew there was something wrong about this. It needs more than just to be thrown away, doesn't it."

Kreacher just stood there, staring back at Danielle before his face fell and Danielle looked back down at the locket. Kreacher may not have been able to figure out how to destroy it, but if whatever evil about this locket had ghostly properties that the ghost-girl could sense, then perhaps something ghostly was what was needed to get rid of it.

Danielle clenched the locket tightly in her fist, closing her eyes in concentration until her whole hand ignited.

Kreacher took a step backward, wide-eyed. "The girl uses no incantation. No wand." He ducked under the desk, grasping the leg as if for reassurance at seeing her unnatural use of 'magic' "But her attempt will fail. Kreacher has tried fire."

Not _this_ kind of fire. Danielle thought as she enhanced the flame in her hand with some golden-yellow ecto-energy. The second she did this, the locket started to vibrate in her hand. It was as if it had sensed the danger and was trying to squirm itself free. Danielle had to concentrate just to keep it from slipping out of her grip, knowing that it was the ecto-energy that it was afraid of.

Danielle strengthened the ecto-charge in her hand, as well as the fire, seeing the locket slowly begin to warp in the heat of her ghost-energy. The locket shook so violently now, Danielle had to grab hold of her wrist with her other hand to keep it in place. A few seconds later, she felt something beginning to ooze through her fingers and drip to the floor. Thinking it was probably the metal of the locket melting off, she thought nothing of it. She was more interested in seeing that a small hole had melted through to the inside.

Danielle received a sudden jolt from the locket. She gasped in unexpected pain, feeling the locket slip a bit in her hand. The next thing she knew, she was curled up on the floor, straining against the rush of pain the locket was surging through her whole arm as if fighting back, now that she had broken through its outer defenses and accessed the inside where the heart of the true evil was. She held on tight, despite the pain, keeping the energy in her hand flowing until she was sure it was beginning to seep through the tiny hole she had made in it. With one final surge of power, she was sure her ecto-energy made it all the way inside the locket.

The locket suddenly screamed and Danielle dropped it in surprise, flinging backwards. The locket burst the rest of the way open upon hitting the floor between herself and a frightened-looking Kreacher, releasing a dark cloud of smoke that built high above their heads, filling the whole room.

Danielle's heart began to race as she hastily scooted away from the smoke, watching it take the form of a face that was letting out the dreadful prolonged cry of agony. Danielle covered her ears from the horrible sound, (barely realizing that her hand was wet with whatever had been oozing from the locket before) seeing through squinted eyes that the locket itself was still ablaze in her leftover ecto-enhanced fire.

As the scream continued, reaching an unbearable point, the face in the smoke practically exploded. The thousands of pieces it broke into left their own smoke trails, flying all around the room as if desperately trying to latch onto something, anything, that would keep it from fading from existence. Out of reflex, Danielle ducked her head under her hands, feeling the thousands of wisps blowing by her from all directions that were still letting out that blood-curdling scream. After a few seconds, the smoke began to dissipate, the tormented voice fading along with it.

Then there was silence. Danielle slowly opened her eyes, looking up from behind her arms, finding that she had unknowingly backed herself against the wall. She felt as though a dark, heavy shadow had been lifted from the room, finding no signs of whatever had burst from the locket anywhere. She took several deep breaths, disbelieving what had just happened: All _that_ from the inside of a locket?

She looked across the room, seeing Kreacher on his knees with his little hands folding his large batlike ears over themselves before he too squinted up, looking around nervously. Then, both looked down at the locket on the floor that was now wide open, charred black, partially melted and…bleeding.

Danielle quickly looked at her hand, realizing now that the liquid that had been oozing from it was dark blood that was now all over her hand and the floor where she had touched. Now that she thought of it, it was probably all over the side of her face now as well from when she covered her ears from the scream.

Kreacher slowly rose to his feet, using the desk leg as a support as he stared at the remains of the locket. "The locket is damaged." He muttered awestruck, slowly creeping towards it. "Kreacher thinks the Dark Magic has dispersed." He crouched down, poked at the locket once before gingerly picking it up by the chain, holding the pendant to his eyelevel. "Kreacher thinks the young stranger destroyed it. Master Regulus's request is finally fulfilled! She actually destroyed it!"

"Did I?" Danielle said, not sure what to think in seeing her hand practically drenched in blood. She may not have known much about the magical world, but what could possibly make an object bleed or scream like that? Whatever it was, she had felt that whatever was in the locket was alive. Maybe not human, but in one way or another, alive. It couldn't have just been destroyed. It was more like…dare she think it—_killed. _

The very thought was making the color drain from her face when suddenly the door burst open and in rushed Danny and Sirius.

"What's going on?" said Sirius, looking around the room with a startled face. Both he and Danny observed Kreacher scurrying back under the desk and Danielle sitting on the floor against the wall.

Only then did Danielle realize that the whole house must have heard the scream from the locket. More importantly, Danny undoubtedly sensed the pain the locket had shot through her arm when it was resisting her.

"Dani! Are you okay?" said Danny, sliding down to his knees in front of her, predictably sweeping a critical eye over her appearance.

Danielle tried to cover the bloodied side of her pale face with her long bangs, but absentmindedly did so with the hand that was also sopping with blood. Danny caught her wrist in a firm grip and held it within his line of vision looking horrorstricken.

"I'm fine—" Danielle tried to say before Harry and Ron hurried into the room. Once their eyes found Danielle, they noticed her hand almost immediately after and her cousin's disturbed face.

"Is that blood!" said Harry, wide-eyed.

"Blimey! What happened?" said Ron.

Danielle hastily wrenched her hand away from Danny, trying to conceal it. "It's not_—_!"

"KREACHER!" Sirius shouted, making Danielle stop short in surprise. He suddenly advanced on the now cowering house-elf. "What's that you're holding?" Sirius demanded angrily, seeing the locket dangling from Kreacher's shaking hands. "You conniving little sneak! GIVE IT HERE!"

"Hey! Leave him alone, Mr. Black!" Danielle protested, standing up despite Danny's disinclination.

Sirius successfully pried a hysterical Kreacher off the burned locket, bodily throwing him to the floor after doing so, and turned to her. "It's bad enough that he's sneaking around interfering with our work, but hurting you with what he's taken, official witch or not, is unforgivable for _any_ house-elf—"

"—WHAT?" Danielle's outburst made everyone jump. She was absolutely appalled at such an accusation. "HE NEVER LAID A FINGER ON ME!"

"We heard you screaming as if someone was just murdered!" said Ron from the doorway. "Forget the fact that you're bleeding like mad!" he threw a hand up, indicating the blood that she was covered in.

Danielle spun on Ron with a glare, suddenly getting even more frustrated in seeing that Fred and George had peaked through the doorway behind him and Harry; Just in time to hear Ron mention Danielle's blood-covered hand. Now they too were looking dumbfounded as they looked between her and Kreacher.

"You guys are so dense!" Danielle growled up at the ceiling. "For one thing, this isn't my blood and I wasn't the one who screamed. That was the locket!"

"The _locket_—screamed?" said Harry, screwing up his face in confusion. The Weasley boys and Sirius looked at the damaged locket skeptically. Then they looked at Danny as if for some sort of authentication. What? Did they assume him to be the more truthful one just because he was of age according to their society?

Danielle could tell that Danny believed her at least.

"I don't know what screamed, but it wasn't _her_," Danny confirmed, to Danielle's gratitude, even as he was insistently looking over her hand and face, finding no wounds from which the blood could possibly be coming from. "Trust me. I'd know."

Indeed he would. There had been many life-threatening situations in which he had learned to recognize the sound of his own cousin's voice pretty well, and it wasn't anything like what that the locket had let out. Even if he did sense her being hurt in the arm that was now bloodstained, he would know through their connection that it wasn't nearly severe enough to have made her scream the way the locket did.

"Is that the locket from the cupboard?" said George, squinting at the object in Sirius's hand.

"How'd you get it open?" said Fred.

The twins walked in to have a better look, getting disgusted expressions on their faces when they realized it was dripping blood on the floor. Hopefully that proved where the blood on Danielle really came from.

While everyone was peering at the remains of the previously impenetrable locket, Danielle took advantage of the distraction to clean the blood off herself by going intangible, letting it fall from her hand and face down to the floor. She wearily allowed Danny to check over them one more time to prove that she was completely uninjured, even if just a bit tingly in the right arm, before he too joined the observation party.

"Hey. I don't sense that feeling coming form it anymore." Danny noticed when he touched it.

"Well, then it can be thrown out like it was _supposed_ to have been with the rest of the rubbish," Sirius decided, shaking the locket slightly to get rid of the excess blood before tossing it up and catching the pendant in his hand. This closed it shut as he strode towards the doorway.

Danielle glared at him, her eyes glowing bright green with ghostly rage, as she used some secret intangible action to phase the locket right out of Sirius's sure grip as he was passing by her. The absence of the weight in his hands threw him for a second, but before anyone else even realized that the locket had switched holders, Danielle had taken it to the far side of the room where Kreacher sat miserably in the corner, blowing his nose in his filthy cloth. He looked up at her as she approached.

Danielle used the intangible trick to clean off the blood and ash from the pendant, making it look like she was just rubbing it off with her fingers. Then she stooped down, presenting the now clean, even if warped, locket to Kreacher.

"What are you doing?" said Ron, looking absolutely baffled by the scene.

Danielle ignored him, saying kindly to the house-elf, "I promised you could keep it, Kreacher." She looked down at the pitiful tribute she was offering and shrugged guiltily. "It's…not exactly in the best condition anymore but…you still want it?"

Harry, Ron, the twins, and Sirius all watched in astonished silence as Kreacher studied Danielle and the tarnished locket. After a few seconds of staring longingly at it (indicating to Danielle's relief that she was making the right move), he hesitantly reached out a hand, eyeing everyone that was watching him. He was very still for a moment before he snatched it from the palm of her hand and crouched over it protectively like he did the first time, only now in relief instead of sorrowful anger.

"Count us lucky it wasn't clothes." Ron said to Harry.

Danielle directed a quizzical look at Ron, but before he could explain what he meant, Sirius had reached breaking point.

"You have no right giving him that!" Sirius bellowed, stepping forward. "This is _my_ house, these are _my_ possessions—"

"—that you _clearly_ don't want in the first place," Danielle shot up to her full height, facing Sirius determinedly. "So why does it matter if a house-elf keeps one little trinket?"

"You watch that tone with your betters, young lady," Sirius gritted his teeth, not happy at all that a child was contradicting him. What seemed to tweak him even more was that Danielle just scoffed as if taking his last statement as a challenge.

Harry looked warily between the girl with undetectable underage magic and his Animagus godfather; unsure of whose side he'd rather be on if a duel suddenly broke out. Fred and George seemed to be getting anxious (in an excited way) at the possibility of the same idea as the tension between the two was clearly rising.

"Everything about this house has been a nightmare for me!" Sirius continued dangerously to Danielle. "If that locket meant anything to my family—"

"I doubt it would _now_ with the shape it's in." Danielle interrupted, stepping right up to Sirius as if purposefully stationing herself between him and Kreacher. "It may not be up to me what you decide to do with the _rest_ of this house, but there's something about that locket that's particularly meaningful to Kreacher and you're _not_ going to take it from him. _Got it?_"

Danielle had to have been at least a foot shorter than Sirius, but just the fearless look in her eyes made her seem so much more powerful as she stood firmly in front of him. Harry was debating whether or not someone should be trying to break this argument up. He looked over at Danny, wondering how he was going to deal with his little cousin's behavior. To Harry's surprise, he was just standing there, observing the scene as if he was simply analyzing the contents of an everyday conversation.

There was a short pause before Sirius let out a frustrated huff at Danielle.

"You're just a child that has no knowledge of how our world works! Why would you care anyway what—?"

"—Because I know what it's like to be looked down on just because you fall short of a few expectations!" Danielle said steadfastly, not even letting Sirius finish his sentence.

A stunned silence filled the room before Danielle spoke again, her voice calmer this time, but the genuine look on her face giving her next statement just as much strength to back it up.

"Kreacher—keeps—the locket. Even if nothing else."

Another moment of silence followed in which Danielle's unwavering gaze bored into Sirius like a power drill before she stormed out of the room. Harry had the sudden impulse to back as far against the doorframe as possible as she passed by him into the hall, leaving everyone (apart from Danny) absolutely bewildered. By the time everyone had regained themselves, they noticed that Kreacher had also snuck from the room with the locket. Not that anyone had the mind to try and take it from him after seeing Danielle like that.

"The _nerve_ of that child!" Sirius blurted, furiously folding his arms.

Harry wondered whether Sirius really was outraged by Danielle's lack of respect or just using this tough-guy-act to cover up the fact that a fifteen-year-old girl had left him flustered and speechless.

Everyone was now turning to Danny as if hoping for some logical explanation.

"Does she get like that often?" said George, raising an arm in the direction Danielle had walked off.

"She has certain…sensitivities involved in her background," said Danny, bobbing his head to one side as if it was no big deal at all. Then he turned to Sirius, folding his arms. "You could probably make more of an effort to be nicer to your own house-elf, though."

If Sirius had been expecting Danny to march right after his younger cousin and tell her off, or even apologize to him on her behalf, him taking her side was clearly what made Sirius shoot such a staggered look at him.

"Oi. You're starting to sound like Hermione," said Ron wearily, rolling his eyes.

"Well, maybe she has a point," said Danny.

"It's the nature of the house-elves to serve the wizard families they're bound to," said Sirius, clearly trying to regain control of the conversation he had already lost to a fifteen-year-old.

It didn't help much before Danny turned on him. "Well then you can make their nature easier and more pleasant to be bound to by being pleasant to them yourself. Is it _really_ that hard?"

Sirius let out a frustrated groan. "What was Dumbledore _thinking_ in bringing on you kids? Are you always this flippant with your elders?"

"No." Danny shook his head casually with a grin. "It's just in _our_ nature to stand up for the underdog." Then, he simply strode out of the room the same way Danielle had. The five wizards watching him the whole way.

It was only after Danny was down the stairs and out of sight that Ron moaned up at the ceiling. "Great. I sense some actual supporters for _spew_ coming up. Hermione's _never_ gonna let us live this down."

"Those Fenton kids are definitely something else." said Fred, staring after Danny as if mesmerized.

"No kidding." George nodded slowly in agreement before he and Fred headed back down the hall.

Harry thought he then heard him saying in an interested whisper as they were descending the stairs, "—Did you see the way she slipped that locket away from Sirius? —"

Ron soon followed his brothers and Sirius just shook his head as if trying to get over being out-done by a couple of teenagers before falling in step behind him.

Harry himself was at a complete loss for words at what he had witnessed in this room. He didn't know where those Fenton kids came from or what on earth they had both been through in their lives to get such strong opinions, let alone to defy any full-fledge wizard, but he certainly agreed with Fred and George that they were something different. Whether or not it was something to be worried about was a different matter entirely. Still, their strength and way of words wasn't the only thing that Harry had come to notice about them. There was something lingering around them that seemed to have jumped out at him, particularly while in that room only moments ago.

Failing to figure out what exactly it was, Harry put it aside in his mind and just headed back downstairs, wondering if Mrs. Weasley was thinking they were trying to skive off work back in the drawing room.

_**Boy, this is insanely long! Longer than any chapter I've ever written in ANY of my stories. Even after deciding to cut off about six pages worth to the part I had intended to leave it off at. On the bright side, in doing that, I've already finished a huge chunk of the next chapter. It probably won't take as long for me to update, depending on my physical condition for the next while.**_

_**Anyway, I wonder if bringing the whole horcrux thing into it was a bad idea, especially since I have no intention of bringing any of the others into this story. Was the horcrux too distracting from the main story or do you think it tied in well with the revealing of who the Fentons really are to the wizards? And what do you think of the pace in which the Fentons are revealing their abilities to them, like with the doxies in front of Mrs. Weasley? What about the other character's reactions? Were they realistic enough for you or was it just weird? Please review and give me your input! Thanks.**_


	6. The Offer

**_Well, I did tell you it would take less time to update, but I'm sorry to say that it entails having a much smaller chapter this time. Anyway, here it is. The missing pages of the last chapter as well as a little more. _**

**_By the way, those of you who might have been wondering why the Fentons could sense the locket horcrux but not the horcrux that is Harry, it's because their ghost-senses react to disembodied spirits. The locket horcrux is an object with a living piece of a soul inside while the part of Voldemort we know is in Harry is attached to a LIVING person. I doubt the Fentons ghost-senses would be able to pick up the one in Harry as a ghost, if at all._**

**_So without further ado, hope you enjoy. _**

**Chapter 6: The Offer**

Mrs. Weasley kept them all working very hard over the next few days. In all that time, Kreacher still often appeared wherever they were congregated, his muttering becoming more and more offensive as he attempted to remove anything he could from the rubbish sacks. Everyone had begun to notice that his verbal abuse now excluded Danielle though, and by extension, her cousin. No one expected him to go as far as apologizing to her after she had given him the locket, but the fact that he always stopped short in his muttering whenever he noticed her in the room and shuffled off with a hasty bow instantly after left everyone in a state of confusion.

"Do you think he's afraid of me?" Danielle whispered nervously to Danny once this had happened for the third time.

"Nah." Danny shook his head. Then he added telepathically, _Although I should probably ask what he saw when you destroyed that weird locket._

_That I can use fire without a wand or incantation. _Danielle thought back to him sheepishly.

Danny pursed his lips._ Hm. Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to know what to make of me either when I used my Phreeze power the same way. _Thought Danny._ These people seem to rely heavily on those sticks to use their magic. The fact that we don't have a restriction like that _would_ probably scare them a bit._

_So you think Kreacher really is scared of me? _Danielle thought sadly.

There was a bit of a pause between the two before Danielle heard a response from Danny within her mind.

_It would probably be wise to be careful on who sees us use our powers from now on. But I noticed Kreacher's been wearing that locket you gave him under that rag of his._

_Really?_ Danielle looked at her cousin with surprise, almost completely forgetting that they were using telepathy. She had never noticed this about Kreacher and she thought she was the one with the more observant eye among the two of them.

_Yeah. _Danny thought back, showing a smile, even though he wasn't looking directly at her: For the sake of hiding the fact that there was a secret conversation going on between each other's minds._ He may not be talking to you now, but I think it's his way of showing his respect for you. Maybe even gratitude for that little present you gave him. He just doesn't want to show it._

Danielle felt much better after this. Pride always did have a way of making people stubborn. Why not also house-elves?

As the work on the house continued, and Kreacher's change in behavior towards Danielle became more renowned, Sirius kept shooting Danielle sour glances as if expecting her to start scolding him again in his own house. Danielle wondered if he knew Kreacher was wearing the locket she had given him right under his nose. This thought also made her happy because it meant that Sirius knew that Danielle would be able to stop him if he ever tried to reclaim the locket from Kreacher. _Who's the better _now_?_ She thought smugly in private.

Sirius's dissatisfaction with Danielle didn't spread as widely between the other magic folk as she had originally anticipated either. In fact, Hermione was absolutely thrilled when word had gotten around to her that Danielle had stood up for Kreacher. After Danielle had reassured everyone that the favor she had done him had nothing to do with clothes, it had finally been explained to both her and Danny that the presentation of clothes by the master was what set a house-elf free. Anyone else that bothered to ask why the bitterness towards Danielle suddenly shifted from Kreacher to Sirius only became even more astounded that she had done him a favor in the first place.

"Try it sometime, maybe you'll get the same result," was all Danielle said in response to the fifth time she had been asked, this time by Ron.

"You see, Ron? It's not just me," said Hermione, offering her own support, as Ron had predicted. "And Dumbledore says that we aught to be better to Kreacher too."

"Oh yeah, a fat lot of good that's done _you_ so far," said Ron.

"I notice you haven't bothered trying yourself?" Hermione retorted.

"What good would it do in already seeing you try and fail?" said Ron.

"So it's okay to treat Kreacher _exactly_ the way he would predict of the kind of people the family he served was prejudice against?" said Danielle, turning from the sofa she was reaching under for a nest of dead puffskiens to give Ron a look. "Seriously. It might take time, but you might be surprised at how the attitude of someone towards you can change if you keep proving their previous assumptions wrong."

At this point, Ron just huffed irritably and walked off to ask his mother if there was something else she'd like done. Probably just as an excuse to not have to work in the same room as Danielle. Danielle also caught Sirius rolling his eyes, knowing he had overheard the point she had made.

Something even more peculiar than Kreacher's new behavior towards Danielle took place soon after that. Everyone awoke the very next morning to find a great load of the work was suddenly removed from their shoulders. All the dust and grime in the whole house had suddenly vanished overnight: The carpets, the furniture, the windows, everything down to the last handkerchief seemed as though it had always been tended to in the last ten years.

"Maybe Kreacher was up late last night." Danielle had suggested when everyone kept asking how in the world it had happened. This earned her a befuddled stare from several of the wizards, including Sirius.

Little did any of them know that the Fentons had Gone Ghost while everyone else was asleep that night and turned the whole house intangible to let the dust, grime and mold fall right through the house to be nothing more than part of the ground beneath its foundation. Mrs. Weasley had her suspicions of what really happened of course and Ron just complained that it had not happened sooner: that it would have saved him the scrubbing of all the mold he had already cleaned off since arriving at Grimmauld Place.

However way it had happened though, it certainly made Mrs. Weasley and the rest of the Order happy and saved all of them perhaps days worth of time in finishing up the drawing room. The only undesirable objects left in it were the Black family tree, which resisted all their attempts to remove it from the wall until Danny and Danielle applied some secret intangibility that made it instantly fall down, and the rattling writing desk; Moody had not dropped by headquarters yet, so they could not be sure what was inside it.

For this particular issue, Danny had pulled Mrs. Weasley aside, suggesting a trick to allow her to see what was inside the desk without letting it out by using another 'spell' to turn the surface of the cabinet part invisible. While Mrs. Weasly found the ability to turn objects invisible with a touch to be fascinating and handy, she explained that even if it was just a boggart, no one was ever sure what one looked like; that boggarts were shapshifters that changed as soon as the door was even opened. Only Mad-Eye would be able to tell for sure if it was really a boggart or something else entirely.

Mrs. Weasley moved them from the drawing room to a dining room on the ground floor where they found spiders large as saucers lurking in the dresser. Ron left the room hurriedly to make a cup of tea and did not return for an hour and a half. During which time, he had gone into a bedroom where an ancient set of purple robes tried to strangle him when he removed them from their wardrobe. Danielle's attentive and very keen hearing was what had heard him cry out in surprise and Danny was the first to get to him and help. By the time anyone else had gotten in the room, Danny had phased the robe right off of Ron's person and impressively wrestled it into a twisted knot that was unable to strangle anyone else before Sirius used his wand to burn it to ashes. Danielle could have done the same with her Phantom Phlare just as easily, but not without making a scene of it. Ron was already looking dazed and confused at how Danny had gotten the robes off of him so easily.

The doorbell rang several times a day, which was the cue for Sirius's mother to start shrieking again (before the Fentons got fed up and removed the portrait themselves by means of stealthy intangibility that everyone else was flabbergasted by), and for the children to attempt to eavesdrop on the visitor, though they gleaned very little from the brief glimpses and snatches of conversation they were able to sneak before Mrs. Weasley recalled them to their tasks. Sometimes, the ringing of the doorbell also meant the introduction of the Fentons to other members of the Order they had never met. One time they were called down to meet an older woman named Minerva McGonagall that was also another teacher at Hogwarts.

Most of the members of the Order were always too busy to linger much. Sometimes, however, the visitors stayed to help. This also often gave the Fentons more chances to witness the use of more magic. Tonks joined them for a memorable afternoon in which they found a murderous old ghoul lurking in an upstairs bathroom. Lupin, who was staying in the house with Sirius but who left it for long periods to do mysterious work for the Order, helped them repair a grandfather clock that had developed the unpleasant habit of shooting heavy bolts at passersby. Mundungus sometimes stayed for cleaning as well, but Danielle also caught him whispering with Fred and George now and again about black-market deals on objects he had pilfered while out of the house.

As the days rolled by, the magic children kept finding the mystery of the Fentons more and more enticing, making it harder and harder for the Fentons to use their powers in secret as they assisted in cleaning the house. Mrs. Weasley already knew their powers were unusual, and Dumbledore had obviously dropped hints to the other members of the Order, but all the magical children kept getting more curious than was comfortable for either of the Fenton cousins. Aside from wondering why the Order of the Phoenix was so interested in them and why their 'magic' wasn't detectable by the Ministry, Fred and George seemed particularly interested lately in knowing the secret behind the slight-of-hand Danielle had pulled on Sirius in getting the locket away from him to give to Kreacher.

However, while the twins may have found the Fentons fascinating, Mrs. Weasley expressed many of their powers to be helpful, and Hermione constantly wondered how either of the Fentons became so insightful about the politics of a world they had only been introduced to the week before, Danielle certainly wasn't about to tell them about being only half-human. Not after seeing the prejudice that happened surrounding a house-elf. Danielle became very careful in making sure that any other discussion of her ghost-powers was done telepathically with Danny.

She found this later to be a better idea than she had expected. Since she or Danny weren't _saying_ anything, she caught one or two of the Weasley kids, several times, sneaking around corners and behind doors as if trying to catch her in the act of revealing some great secret. It became rather annoying after a while and it wasn't until Mrs. Weasley scolded them for badgering them so much that they ended up backing off at all, which Danielle was grateful for, even if they didn't do it all the way.

The attention was also averted from the Fentons the closer the day of Harry's hearing became. Danielle could tell that the bespectacled boy was worrying about it whenever he wasn't busy helping with the house. No one else seemed to want to bring it up either as if fearing the mention of it would upset him. If he were expelled from his school, Arthur Weasley told her that his wand would be snapped in half and he'd have to go back to stay with his mother's sister's family. Danielle had already guessed that this family was the same one that she saw mistreating him back in Little Whinging.

Danielle may not have understood everything on how the Ministry of Magic worked, but she knew there had to have been something in the law that allowed the use of underage magic in life-threatening situations. She even overheard several of the adult wizards reassure Harry that there was such a thing. If the Ministry didn't let him off for defending against dementors just because they had a grudge against him for saying a dangerous criminal was back—it made Danielle angry just thinking of the injustice.

One of the other things about the upcoming hearing that was bothering her was that no one seemed to have remembered that she was a witness to the attack. All the members of the Order seemed to talk about was that she was able to see the dementors at all. She could help somehow. Why did it seem like, despite their interest in her powers, nobody was going to let her?

Little did Danielle suspect that the answer to this question would soon arise when, one night, she was gently shaken awake by Mrs. Weasley.

"I'm so sorry to wake you, dear," said Mrs. Weasley quietly and apologetically. "But Professor Dumbledore is here to see you."

"Wha…this late?" Danny said from the twin bed on the other side of the room through a yawn.

"Can't it wait till morning?" Danielle moaned sleepily with her head slumping back into her pillow.

"I'm afraid not," said the voice of Dumbledore himself from the bedroom doorway. The Fentons had a bedroom of their own to sleep in by now, having sped up the whole decontamination process with turning the house intangible.

Danielle sighed heavily before slowly rising. "Aye, aye, sir," she said groggily.

Both cousins sat up in their beds, rubbing the sleepiness out of their eyes and stretching as Dumbledore pulled up a chair and took a seat between them.

"Forgive me, I realize you must have had a fairly long day. I just figured you'd feel better about talking, the less likely young prying eyes and ears would be lurking about." said Dumbledore before looking around the room with satisfaction. "Although the house looks exceptionally cleaner since my last visit."

"They've been quite the help in…unexpected ways." Mrs. Weasley commented with a nod.

"So I hear." said Dumbledore, turning to the Fentons again with a smile. "From what I understand, even Kreacher has come to think of you in a different light."

Danny and Danielle shared somewhat surprised glances.

"What have you heard?" said Danielle.

"The way Sirius had put it was that you cheeked him, Miss Fenton, and gave a gift that was never yours to give." said Dumbledore, shrugging casually as if it was no big deal, despite what he was saying.

Danny folded his arms, rolling his eyes. "He was planning on throwing that locket out anyway, and it's not like he was treating Kreacher any better." He said, coming straight to Danielle's defense. "As far as I can tell, he had that coming to him, whether from a foreign kid or not."

Dumbledore looked between the two children with interest in response to this. Danielle remembered hearing from Hermione that Dumbledore had told Sirius to treat Kreacher better before, but this somehow left her little reassurance as Dumbledore was staring at them this way.

"Molly, if you please?" said Dumbledore, cueing Mrs. Weasley that it was time to discuss a more private matter.

Mrs. Weasley nodded and turned to leave, but glanced curiously between the two Fentons before slowly closing the door behind her. It wasn't until all three of them had heard her definite footsteps descending the stairs that Dumbledore cleared his throat to begin.

"Regardless of Sirius's take on the event, since that day, many more in the Order have noticed that Kreacher's mutterings have been about everyone _except_ the two of you. I'd very much like to hear this story from _your_ perspective," said Dumbledore.

The Fentons stared at Dumbledore, taken aback that this would be the first thing he asked of them. Especially after making a point to visit them at this hour of the night.

"Is that the only reason you're here, sir?" Danielle doubted this, but her surprise nevertheless prevented her ability to hold back the question.

"No, but I am fascinated to learn of it whilst I'm here." said Dumbledore eagerly.

Danielle let out a sigh, but she and Danny went ahead and reported the event of Kreacher stealing back a big locket they had found in the drawing room. Danielle had caught him trying to break it before she stopped him from 'punishing himself' and offered to destroy it for him. After a bit more clarification on why Kreacher was so desperately trying to destroy the locket, Dumbledore seemed particularly interested that Sirius's brother (as Dumbledore had said who Regulus was) had specifically requested such an object to be destroyed before he had died. Why this part of the information was enticing Dumbledore was beyond either of the children, but he was nevertheless pleased to hear that Danielle had kept her promise to Kreacher to let him keep the locket, even if by defying his master and making a scene before all other wizards present.

"I honestly don't know why Sirius was being so immature about it." Danielle said in conclusion to her story. "But I wasn't about to break a promise I had made, just because he was being so obsessive."

"Is it really that bad in the eyes of this world to help a house-elf?" Danny commented.

"Well, most house-elves are found working in the homes of very old and very rich wizard families." Dumbledore explained. "Most of which, do have certain prejudices against those that are…unlike themselves."

"You mean the whole anti-muggle thing? Yeah, we heard," said Danny with a dissatisfied snort.

Dumbledore let out a sigh, folding his arms almost as if regretfully. "With Sirius having a ten-thousand Galleon bounty on his head these days, I've asked for him to stay here." He explained. "It's not been easy for him, I expect, being boxed into the house of his hated childhood. I think he views Kreacher as a still living remnant of a painful past."

Danny instantly threw his hands up in disgust. "Kreacher just _worked_ for those people. It's only natural for him to pick up the same viewpoints of the family he served his whole life. It doesn't give Sirius reason to take out the pain of his past on him when there's a chance he can change."

Danielle suddenly felt empathy for Kreacher in hearing Danny talk like this. This must have been the same way he had felt about her back when she was working for Vlad. She looked down at her bedsheets with flashes of her own past with her creator playing through her mind.

"Well, I do hope that regardless of the politics, you've come to realize that not _all_ of the Wizarding world feels the same way," said Dumbledore. "In fact, now that I've heard of your own viewpoints on the matter, it makes me even more hopeful that you'll accept my offer."

The Fentons looked at him in catching the tone that he was leading up to something; perhaps this offer that he had just referred to was the reason for his calling tonight.

"Mr. Fenton," said Dumbledore, turning to Danny first. "I'm sure you've heard rumor throughout the Order that since you're of age, I would be recruiting you as a member."

Danny only shrugged, indicated that the suggestion had indeed been brought up, though only once in the meeting when they had first arrived.

Dumbledore continued. "It has taken much consideration and discussion with the other members, but this rumor is, in fact, true: Should you accept."

"Will it involve having to give a demonstration to the rest of the Order like at the hotel?" he asked, sighing lazily after a moment of thought.

Danielle looked at Dumbledore, also waiting for an answer to this question. The Muggle world may have already known about their ghost-powers, but it seemed to be a completely different take in the Wizarding World and they had already revealed more than they had hoped they'd have to in such a short time without the other kids trying to sneak extra information out of them.

"If you don't wish to share your gifts as you had with me, then I understand," said Dumbledore. "In fact, I've even heard rumor that there are other skills you have that have never even been shown to _me_ that day."

The Fentons only shrugged. They had only just met Dumbledore on that day. It wasn't like they were about to show every single little thing they could do with their powers. There were some things about their powers they had absolutely no intent on ever sharing with anyone, especially outside the family.

"Although some of the duties I have in mind may require you to utilize some of those skills of yours and therefore naturally risk someone seeing you use them," said Dumbledore.

Danny took this into consideration, looking at Danielle. Hiding the fact that they had weird powers was no problem when no one suspected them to be different. That wasn't the issue at all. It was just the explanations that came with people finding out they had such powers.

"Do I have the right to turn down any task I'm not comfortable with?" said Danny.

"Most certainly," said Dumbledore with a pleasant smile. It was as if Danny asking such a question was simply another reason to want to recruit him in the Order in the first place. "I'll even put it in writing if you wish."

"But what about Dani?" Danny asked, looking towards her. "It was _her_ you were originally interested in before you found out we both had the same powers."

"I've not forgotten." Dumbledore reassured. "In fact I have something particular in mind that you may find…unexpected…to say the least." Then he turned his attention directly towards Danielle, leaning forward in his seat to look her straight in the eye as if this was the number one purpose for his visit. "Miss Fenton, I'd like to specifically request that you attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a student this year."

Dumbledore was right; it _was_ unexpected. Danielle was fully awake now as she and Danny shared stunned glances.

"Me? Enroll in a magic school?" said Danielle in disbelief, looking back at Dumbledore. "But I can't even _use_ magic. How am I supposed to even…?"

"Let's experiment with that a bit first before we go jumping to conclusions," said Dumbledore pulling out his wand. Then, to both cousins' surprise, he presented the handle of the wand for Danielle to take.

After sharing a stunned look with Danny, Danielle stared between the wand and Dumbledore for a second.

"You're trusting _me_ with your own personal means of self-defense?" she said, aghast.

"I suppose I am." Dumbledore shrugged. "But you don't strike me as the type to want to kill me where I stand. Though I suppose in this case would be _sitting_."

Danielle didn't laugh at the joke, nor did she quite understand the grounds on which Dumbledore was placing this kind of trust. Still, she hesitantly took the wand, looking it carefully in her hand. For some reason, she felt as if the wand itself was shivering as if afraid or confused about the hand that now held it.

"Say _lumos_. Nice a clear." Dumbledore instructed.

"What will happen if I do?" said Danielle a bit suspiciously.

"Well, I know what happens when _I'm_ the one holding it. But that's what we're trying to find out," said Dumbledore before he fell silent, watching her expectantly with curiosity.

When Danielle looked over at Danny as if for guidance, all she got from his was an uncertain shrug. She took a deep breath, holding out the wand, pointing it in no particular direction, but making sure it was away from anyone.

"_Lumos_," she said.

The wand tip ignited with a faint glow before gradually fading out. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, indicating to Danielle that this wasn't the normal reaction.

"_Lumos_." she said again, this time a bit louder and with as clear diction as possible. The same thing happened with the light of the wand glowing no brighter than on the first try before dimming. Danielle looked over the wand, confused. It was strange but she felt as if the wand itself wasn't sure what to make of her. Like it was trying to figure out whether or not she was even worthy or capable of wielding it.

Dumbledore stroked his beard in observance of this.

"Very interesting. A standard Muggle wouldn't be able to make anything happen at all. Although, your own access to magic seems very limited as it is." He said, holding out his hand for the return of his wand. Danielle handed it back with a still perplexed look on her face that the wand seemed to have been arguing with her.

"Still," Dumbledore continued, stowing his wand away again. "I doubt you'll find that as much of a problem as you might think in Hogwarts. There are a fair few subjects taught there that don't require the demonstration of wand-skill to pass; Some of which, you may find interesting. Though, with only a few weeks before the start of term, you will need some filling in on the basics, which I'm sure Miss Granger or any of the other children will only be too happy to assist you with."

Danielle seriously doubted this, judging by the gossip she had already caught taking place behind her back. Still, she couldn't help but wonder about something else that had been on her mind all week.

"Mr.…or, uh…_Professor_ Dumbledore," she quickly corrected herself. "Harry's hearing is in two days." Dumbledore straightened up in his chair, looking at her intently. "I noticed in all this time you haven't asked me to go as a witness for his defense. Not even as a message through anyone else in the Order. I thought you didn't want him expelled from your school."

"I will certainly not allow it to happen as far as I can help it," said Dumbledore, folding his arms determinedly.

"But I was right there in that alley. I _saw_ the dementors. I could testify to what happened and they'd _have_ to clear him," said Danielle.

Danny nodded his support.

"Only while running the risk of revealing the nature of your abilities." said Dumbledore, looking over the top of his half-moon spectacles at her. "The Ministry keeps a careful record of every witch and wizard in Britain. They no doubt have connections to the US government and the records they hold as well. Should they find out there is absolutely no record of you or your parentage, you would have to explain why and how you could see the dementors in the first place."

There was a short pause in which Danielle took this in, looking over at Danny who was looking like some pieces were falling together in his head. "Wait a second." He said warily, giving off a familiar spark in his eyes that told those closest to him that a revelation had just occurred to him. "I'm sensing a connection here with why you want her at Hogwarts."

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling again. "You really are very bright for your age." Then he leaned forward in his chair, looking between the two ghost-powered children. "You see, as it happens, I've been having an extreme amount of difficulty finding a new teacher for one of the subjects at Hogwarts. So much so, that I've had to resort to accepting someone assigned by the Ministry of Magic." Danny and Danielle shared glances, having a feeling of where this was going. "If I had to guess, it will be someone handpicked by Cornelius Fudge himself."

"And you think he'll use them to cause trouble for you at the school?" Danny asked, pressingly.

"I cannot deny that having a paranoid minister breathing down my neck is unsettling with also trying to keep track of the movements of a newly returned Dark Wizard." said Dumbledore, raising an eyebrow.

"And by not testifying at the hearing, it throws suspicion off me being involved with you and your '_take over Ministry_ plot' when I get to the school," concluded Danielle.

Dumbledore nodded with another smile. "I already have an alternate plan set for the hearing in Harry's defense. But Voldemort has spies in the Ministry already, and if the Ministry itself is going to insist keeping watch on me, I like knowing I have a few people he has no idea of that are watching _them_ in turn. I realize I've already asked so much of you, but I figured your presence in Hogwarts might do just that. And someone unexpected such as your cousin being in the Order could be quite helpful as well."

Danielle looked over at her cousin, seeing the disbelief in his eyes that she herself was feeling in taking in this information. After a thoughtful pause in which Danielle pursed her lips, she looked up at Dumbledore again.

"Sir, are you always this trusting?" When Dumbledore gave her a questioning look, she explained. "How do you know you can trust a couple of teenage outsiders to watch your back in territory that's otherwise off-limits to people that…well…aren't like you?"

Dumbledore simply shrugged, smiling again. "I don't consider myself as discriminatory as some wizards. And I don't think it dissimilar to your surety in trusting me to be 'the _good guy', _as I believe the youth would say."

"Fair point." Danny commented, bobbing his head to the side.

The Fentons looked at each other in consideration. Danielle had never done undercover work before, let alone in a foreign magic school. And with only a few weeks left before the start of term, Dumbledore had already said that she'd have a lot of studying to do in order to make her disguise convincing enough. She also didn't know what she would have to tell the rest of the family back home when they found out that their stay in Britain would have to be much longer than they had ever anticipated.

_Well, I don't know about you, but I'm getting a feeling Harry will be needing a little more moral support with the press…misguiding the general public about him. _Danny's voice said inside her head.

By the tone, she wasn't sure if he was mocking her about 'crushing on Harry' or giving friendly advice, but he was probably right. Besides, her attendance in Hogwarts might help Danny to do his work for the Order. On top of which, perhaps a fresh perspective _would_ help the Wizarding World to illuminate the danger it was in before it was too late.

"Okay," said Danielle decisively with a nod.

"We're in." Danny confirmed.

_**I know, I know, I know people are probably already disappointed and possibly even angry with me that Danielle won't be taking part in the hearing at the Ministry, but as you've probably guessed from reading the chapter, it's because I have my own plans. Plus, having Danielle go to the hearing is kind of predictable, don't you think? And predictable can be boring, which is amongst the last of the things I want to make this story, especially as there are SO many other crossovers like this one.**_

_**OH! And by the way, NO Danielle does NOT have any real magical abilities that allowed her to use the wand. The wand just reacted to her having ghost-powers. That's why it was confused and didn't cooperate with her.**_

_**I also apologize for the really short chapter following that really long one that came about last time. But hey, at least I got it to end in the exact place I wanted it to this time. ^_^ I don't know when exactly I'll be able to update again. I've reached another bit of a block that I'm trying to smooth down before I can finish the next chapter.**_

_**Anyway. Was it weird to you with the part of Dumbledore handing over his wand for the testing of Danielle's use of magic? Or did that make enough sense to you? **__**What did you think of other places in the chapter? Any favorite parts you'd like to mention or concerns you'd like to express? Random predictions you'd like to make? Please review and let me know. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, despite it's briefness compared to the last that people seemed to like for the length. **_


	7. The First Step

_**Sorry this took so long. Longer than I expected in fact, considering the length of this chapter compared to that other one that took nearly just as long. This was a difficult one to figure out and was one of those ones that kept getting longer with every proofread. **_

_**By the way, you should probably know that I've made a few changes. The Fenton's didn't come to Britain because of strange energy readings that the ecto-scanners had picked up. I've decided to say instead that the Prime Minister had a ghost problem he requested the Phantoms to provide help with. Then the Fentons were just exploring after having taken care of the problem and happened to run into Harry while exploring in the time they had left before they intended to go back home. Now that I have a better reason for them to have been there without the rest of the gang, I'll be expounding on it a little more in future chapters and going back to change the previous ones.**_

_**Anyway, hope you enjoy this latest update. ^_^**_

_**Disclaimer:**** I do NOT own Danny Phantom (Except my design of the older version of Danielle) or any of the Harry Potter books or movies**._

**Chapter 7: The First Step**

Mrs. Weasley finally gave everyone a day off from working on the house the day before Harry's hearing (The speeding up of the decontamination brought about by the Fentons probably had something to do with it). This gave the Fentons a chance to go off and find a way to contact their family. Oddly enough, most wizards knew nothing about a telephone line, much less owned one or even knew how to use one (or frankly any electronic devices, which explained the use of gas lamps in the house), otherwise the cousins would have simply called from Grimmauld Place. After nearly a week in a house with no Internet access or outlets, it was well passed time for another call back home before Maddie gave them another lecture about not checking in.

Despite the quiet news throughout the Order of the Phoenix that Danny was now a fellow member, Mrs. Weasley and Sirius were reluctant in letting him and Danielle leave the house by themselves. Evidently, though, Dumbledore had reassured them the night he had come to see them that the Fenton cousins knew how to keep their heads down, allowing them to leave Grimmauld Place at all. Sirius still gave them a suspicious look as they were going out the door, though. Danielle figured he still hadn't forgiven her for successfully telling him off about Kreacher the other day, automatically assuming they would be up to no good while out on their own. On the other hand, regardless of what powers they had shown Mrs. Weasley, she still saw them as teenagers to be concerned for the safety over. How like a mother she was, even with the children that were merely guests. It baffled Danielle how different the perspective of two people could be about one thing.

While walking about London, the Fentons found a nice little café near the hotel they had originally been staying at where they ordered lunch while accessing the Internet through their laptop. With no electrical outlets in Grimmauld Place, they had no way of keeping the battery charged, forcing them to keep it off for the majority of the time, so it was quite the relief in finally being able to plug it in. The café wasn't very busy during the time they were there, allowing them to find a more private corner to talk about more sensitive matters aloud, but also enough people conversing one with another that they couldn't as easily be overheard. They had managed to establish a four-way link with Sam, Tucker and the whole Fenton family to explain what they were allowed of their current situation.

"You're going undercover as a prep school student?" said Sam, baffled in hearing about Danielle being asked to attend a British school.

"Not so loud, Sam," Danny said in a whisper, glancing around.

Danielle was the better lookout of the two. No one was looking in their direction or had even flinched from whatever activities or conversations they had been undertaking, so she assumed they were all right.

"Secret agent style: Awesome!" said Tucker enviously.

"Sounds like you'll be staying over there for a lot longer than we thought," said Maddie.

"And here we thought you finished that job for the Prime Minister early," said Jack.

"Good thing he's the one paying for your stay there." Danny's older sister, Jazz, remarked. "Though, I'm not sure he'll be as gracious in paying for your enrollment in this school, Danielle."

"Well, considering Danielle's real reason for going there, the headmaster said that won't be a problem." said Danny. _Not that the Prime Minister would be able to pay in the currency they use in the Wizarding World anyway._ He added in his head. "But if there's a way we can help these people, we'd at least like to be close enough by to provide it last-minute, if needed."

"In any case, it might start becoming a bit difficult to contact you guys as frequently as before," said Danielle.

Maddie sighed in response to this. "I still can't understand why you can't tell us more about this organization you're working with now. Not even this criminal they're after?" Both ghost-powered cousins shook their heads. "I mean, for all we know, they're another secret ghost-hunting agency that's trying to trap you."

Danielle nearly laughed, having predicted this sort of thing to come up from her aunt as she blew her bangs out of her face in annoyance.

"Oh, mom, you're such a worrywart sometimes," said Danny with a shake of his head.

"Besides. These people don't know half of what we're capable of," said Danielle with a mischievous smile. "Even if they were trying to set us up, they'd have another thing coming."

"No joke. Go get 'em, Danny Duo." Jazz, said with a wink and a thumbs-up.

"Think you guys'll be able to handle things back over there for us a while longer?" asked Danny.

"No problem." Jack said confidently, holding up a new invention he had been working on in the lab when they had logged on.

"You two just take care of yourselves, all right?" said Maddie.

"We'll be fine," said Danielle lazily.

"Though, it probably wouldn't hurt to keep an eye out for suspicious activity on your side. You know, just in case this spreads further than Britain." said Danny quietly, leaning towards the laptop.

After receiving a confirming nod from everyone on the screen, good-byes were exchanged and they logged off.

After closing the laptop to let the battery charge the rest of the way, Danny and Danielle looked at each other with troubled faces, sorely wishing they could tell them more, especially Mrs. Fenton; something that would wipe that worried look off her face, despite finding out that they would have to stay in Britain for much longer than any of them had ever expected. However, even if they could tell them that they had wound up in a magical world with its own set of rules and dangers, they doubted the others would even begin to believe them. A public café wouldn't be the best place to try to explain the complexities involved anyway.

Even after staying to have milkshakes at the café, the Fentons took their time in returning to number twelve, Grimmauld Place, enjoying the open space before having to go back inside the musty old house, talking about their predictions and feelings of the tasks now ahead of them. By the time they had walked within the border of what the wizards called a Fidelius Charm and through the front door, it was nearly dinnertime. Only half an hour later, Mrs. Weasley called everyone into the kitchen to eat. During which time, she turned to Harry and said quietly, "I've ironed your best clothes for tomorrow morning, Harry, and I want you to wash your hair tonight too. A good first impression can work wonders."

All the children stopped talking and looked over at Harry, including Danielle. She had completely forgotten about the hearing at the Ministry in being so absorbed with Danny in her own anxieties about their involvement in something entirely new. Danielle saw Harry nod after glancing around at the faces that were now staring anxiously in his direction.

"How am I getting there?" Harry asked Mrs. Weasley. He sounded unconcerned, but Danielle couldn't help but notice that he had become suddenly slower in eating his chops.

"Arthur's taking you to work with him," said Mrs. Weasley gently.

Mr. Weasley smiled encouragingly at Harry across the table.

"You can wait in my office until it's time for the hearing," he said.

Harry looked over at Sirius as if to ask him a question, but Mrs. Weasley was one step ahead of him.

"Professor Dumbledore doesn't think it's a good idea for Sirius to go with you, and I must say I—"

"—Think he's _quite right_," said Sirius through clenched teeth.

Mrs. Weasley pursed her lips.

Danny and Danielle looked at each other, both getting the feeling that they were missing something. How could Sirius possibly think he could accompany Harry to the Ministry of Magic with a bounty on his head? Did he think of going in disguise somehow?

"When did Dumbledore tell you that?" Harry said, staring at Sirius.

"He came last night while you were in bed," said Mr. Weasley.

Sirius stabbed moodily at a potato with his fork. Danielle noticed Harry drop his own eyes down to his plate before she turned to look at Danny.

That was the same night Dumbledore had talked to them about going to Hogwarts and joining the Order. He had told them at the time that it was to decrease the chance of others overhearing them, but from the sound of it, Dumbledore was a generally interactive headmaster with his students and knew Harry particularly well. Wouldn't he have at least come to see Harry for reassurance on the eve of his hearing?

00000

The next morning, Danielle suddenly awoke to the sound of Fred's voice calling through the bedroom door as he was obnoxiously banging his fist on it, "Rise and shine, Dannys! Mum's got breakfast downstairs!"

Then he (as well as George, based on the sound) noisily stomped away for extra measure before two gloved hands suddenly and unnoticeably arose from below the floor they were standing on, grabbing them by one ankle each. Fred and George cried out in surprise as their feet were lifted right out from under them and they tumbled forward to the floor.

"Ouch!" both said in unison, rubbing their knees and chests where they now hurt from landing on the hard wood floor. A flash of light came from behind them and they turned around in bewilderment at what had possibly happened to trip them up, finding a sleepy-eyed Danielle with unkempt hair and in blue pajamas behind them.

"Just a little word of advice," Danielle said through a yawn as she stretched herself. "Don't wake me up on a panic attack."

With that, she shuffled her way back into the bedroom, rubbing her eyes, and leaving Fred and George looking both confused as well as thoroughly impressed.

After closing the door with a snap behind her, Danielle slumped back into her bed, intending to go back to sleep for a little longer.

"You'd think we never left home with those two," she groaned over to Danny as she closed her eyes.

Then she opened them again, surprised that Danny didn't answer. No witty reply of any kind, not even to say something about risking exposure in pulling a prank like that on the twins again. There was no way he could have still been asleep after all that noise they had been purposefully making in the hall. Danielle turned over, looking towards Danny's bed, finding it empty. A small sheet of paper lay on the pillow, clearly visible in contrast to the colors of the unmade bedspread.

Danielle was fully awake suddenly in discovering such a mystery. She got out of bed to take a closer look at the paper, which was evidently two: one on top of another. The top one that was smaller was in Danny's unmistakable, if hurried, handwriting that read,

_On first assignment. See you when I get back._

_-Danny_

_P.S. Dumbledore says ask Hermione about schoolbooks._

Danielle picked up the note, rereading it several times as if to decipher some hidden meaning; perhaps a joke. Hoping for some further explanation, Danielle looked at the other piece of paper that was on Danny's pillow. This one had different handwriting that she thought she had seen somewhere before recently.

_Miss Fenton, here is a list of the classes at Hogwarts I think would be best for you. _

_Ancient Runes_

_Arithmancy_

_Astronomy_

_Care of Magical Creatures_

_Divination_

_Herbology_

_History of Magic_

_Potions_

_-A.P.W.B. Dumbledore._

Danielle suddenly felt lost and hollow inside. Danny had never just taken off without telling her before directly, especially when on some special mission. How long ago had it been since he left? How long was he going to be gone? How long would she have to cope with the already suspecting magic folk on her own?

As Danielle glanced between the two notes, she felt cheated. No sooner had she and her cousin accepted to help Dumbledore that he starts taking advantage of them; dragging Danny away from her in the middle of the night for some secret task and then shoving her in the midst of people she hardly knew to ask personal questions they would mostly likely be hesitant in answering, especially to someone that didn't even belong in their world. The other children didn't even know she was going to be going to Hogwarts yet. Danielle had been too afraid of how they'd react.

Suddenly overwhelmed by the situation she had been left to face without Danny's support, Danielle sat back down on the edge of her bed. She closed her eyes for a second, tempted to use Perspective Search to find out if he was on his way back yet. After all, it had to have been several hours already since he had left if it had been early enough to not want to bother waking her up to say he was leaving.

However, there was no reason to use the technique other than to childishly check her older cousin's progress like an anxious young child waiting up late for a parent to come home.

Danielle could sense nothing within the DNA connection she shared with Danny that could possibly indicate he was in any sort of pain. Whatever this assignment was that he was on, there was no reason at all to believe he was in danger, or rather any danger he couldn't handle. Danny would probably laugh if he found out she had used Perspective Search for such a petty reason, just because she was nervous in handling people outside the family on her own. As she kept fighting the urge to use Perspective Search, though, she still wondered what Dumbledore would have needed Danny for that he had to be fetched so early in the morning.

Finding it was useless to just sit around, especially on an empty stomach, Danielle finally got ready for the day and headed downstairs to join the others for breakfast. She'd rather not have the twins trying to bang on the door again for her delay. By the time she had reached the kitchen, everyone else had already nearly finished eating. Danny had still not returned and she also noticed Harry's absence, assuming he had already left with Mr. Weasley for the Ministry of Magic for his hearing.

"'Bout time, sleepyhead," said George with a smile as he was taking his empty plate to the sink.

"Good morning, dear," said Mrs. Weasley pleasantly to Danielle as she handed her a clean plate.

No sooner had Danielle started serving herself than Fred sat down next to her at the table, having already eaten and cleared his own spot.

"How did you do that?" he asked excitedly in an undertone.

"Huh?" Danielle blinked at Fred in surprise as George came up to them with the same eager expression as his twin.

"That thing that happened upstairs when we woke you up," said George.

Danielle hesitated for a moment before her head caught up with the situation, trying instead to look casual as she put some sausages on her plate. "I just never ordered the wakeup call is all. Especially one as obnoxious as that."

"It's a gift. But how did you rig it?" said Fred, trying to get to the point. "Were you really asleep in there when we knocked,"

"Were you waiting to do the Trip Jinx the whole time or was it something you laid out the night before," said George.

Danielle rolled her eyes. These boys seemed like they'd do anything to find creative ways of playing tricks on people. "Look. Just know the next time you try to scare me out of bed could end up being dangerous."

It wasn't really an exaggeration. Danny and Danielle had become used to getting distress calls in the middle of the night around Amity Park. It was purely reflex to be up and ready to strike if they were awoken so suddenly by a plethora of chaotic noises as the twins had put on.

"Apparently. We better keep our wits about us around this one, George," said Fred.

"We may have found ourselves a proper rival at last," said George, nodding in agreement.

Danielle wasn't sure whether to be flattered or suspicious.

That's when the twins had started looking around quizzically as Danielle finally started eating.

"Hey, where's you're other half?" said Fred, looking back at Danielle.

"Yeah, where _is_ the other Danny?" said Ginny from across the table.

It occurred to Danielle at that moment that the others had hardly ever seen one Fenton without the other. It must have looked just as strange to them as it felt to her to only have one coming from upstairs for breakfast.

Luckily Mrs. Weasely answered for Danielle, as she herself wasn't feeling up to clarifying her cousin's absence. "Danny left with Dumbledore this morning before you woke up," she said as she flicked her wand at the sink, causing the dishes to start washing themselves.

Ron shot a stunned look at his mother. "He went with _Dumbledore_? Why?"

"Well that's none of your business, is it, Ron?" said Mrs. Weasley bluntly.

"With how chummy Dumbledore's gotten with him, you'd think Danny was part of the Order now," said Ginny in more of a mumble.

Danielle's eyes nervously shifted to the side.

"Oh, come off it, Ginny. How would Danny even qualify? He's not even a proper Wizard." said Ron.

Danielle sighed, lowering her fork, knowing that that's what he would be saying about her attending Hogwarts.

"Now don't be rude, Ronald!" said Mrs. Weasley spinning to face her youngest son. "Danny may have had a late introduction into the Wizarding World, but unlike the lot of you, he _is_ of age and has still proven capable enough to pass Dumbledore's approval."

"Pass his approval? So, it's possible he'll be recruited into the Order?" said Hermione.

In noticing Danielle's discomfort, Mrs. Weasley simply turned back to the dishes, ignoring Hermione's question. Danielle couldn't help but notice this alone seemed to raise suspicion to the faces of the other children.

"Hold on." said Fred. "Don't tell me he's _already_ been recruited."

"Danny's part of the Order now?" questioned Ginny.

Ginny had clearly meant the comment from before to be sarcasm, but now she and Hermione shared stunned glances.

Mrs. Weasley sighed in defeat. "Yes. Dumbledore asked Danny to join the Order two days ago and he's accepted."

"WHAT?" Ron, Ginny, Fred and George said at once making Mrs. Weasley jump and Danielle cringe.

"That's not fair," said George.

"Lucky," said Fred miserably. Both of them had wanted to join the Order since coming of age.

"What about that rule Lupin went on about of only out-of-school and overage wizards being in the Order?" Ron complained. "Danny's never even _been_ to any magic school."

"Stop it, Ron!" Hermione scolded, nudging Ron in the ribs.

"Ouch—but it's true. He said so himself."

"That doesn't mean he's unintelligent," said Hermione in a harsh whisper.

"Hermione's quite right, Ron," said Mrs. Weasley. "Nor does it make him untrustworthy or incapable—"

"No kidding." said Fred quietly to George. "With the kinds of things he and his cousin both can do with their magic?"

George nodded in agreement with a wink.

"—In fact I dare say it's _because_ of his differences that made Dumbledore want him in the Order. Now just finish your breakfast and be off, unless you'd rather be given the task of doing these dishes yourself by hand."

Everyone was silent after this, shifting glances at each other before Fred suddenly jumped as if something had snuck up on him.

"Hold on. Where'd Dani go?" he said, looking around in confusion.

"With Dumbledore. That's all you need to know," said Mrs. Weasley sounding frustrated.

"No, not him, the…other one."

Just then, everyone else began to glance in Danielle's direction; only she was no longer there. Her plate lay abandoned on the table with its contents barely picked at.

Hermione scowled at Ron.

"What?" Ron shrugged after catching her expression.

Meanwhile, Danielle had retreated upstairs back into her room, having lost her appetite. She didn't even need to use her ghost powers to sneak away with everyone's attention and conversation towards Mrs. Weasley about Danny. Nevertheless, she had no desire in taking part in the conversation that had been happening in that kitchen. Barely five minutes in and she already couldn't handle being around these people by herself. Not with practically being accused of being too different from them, especially by Ron. Danielle fell across her bed with the intent of waiting right there, making no more awkward contact with anyone else in the house until Danny came back.

She lay there for nearly an hour, staring up at the ceiling before she began to wonder what good it would really do. It could be hours still before Danny returned from whatever Dumbledore was having him do. In fact, for all she knew, it could take all the way until the next morning. Perhaps she could take a flight outside instead of just sitting around, hoping no one would knock on her door.

Her thoughts returned to the notes that had been left her. Why hadn't Danny told her he'd be leaving so she'd at least feel more prepared in having to deal with people suspecting her, especially after finding out that Danny was now part of the Order? Danielle let out a sigh, knowing they would eventually find out she'd be going to Hogwarts as well, not wanting to think about their reactions then. No doubt they would start getting even more nervous around her than they were already and use the same excuses Ron tried in saying Danny didn't qualify for the Order of the Phoenix.

Danielle pulled out the list Dumbledore had given her, looking it over and remembering that she only had a few weeks time before term at Hogwarts began. She had already accepted Dumbledore's invitation and she had already told the others back home that she would be going. There was no turning back now. She had already stuck herself with those other kids by giving her word to go to the same school as they were.

Dumbledore had already told her she'd have a lot to learn before she even got to the school. In seven different subjects, no less, by the look of what was on the note. Danielle exhaled, staring up at the ceiling. If she was going to be of any help for very long, she'd best start getting used to being stared at by the others. She was going to be running into them anyway no matter what she did. In looking back at Danny's note, she began to think that perhaps there was a particular reason he had left it. It wasn't a last-minute message to just let her know that there was no reason for her to be worried about him. This was a heads-up of how she can start doing her part in service to the Wizarding World while he was off doing his own.

Danielle sat up with a sigh, thinking Danny would probably also say it would be a great time for her to get a social life as well. Taking a final look at Dumbledore's list of recommended classes, she decided it was about time she started on her research for her disguise. With a deep breath, she rolled herself off her bed, left her bedroom and headed straight upstairs to find Hermione, as Danny and Dumbledore had advised.

With everyone finished with breakfast by now and Mrs. Weasley halting work on the house until Harry returned from his hearing, everyone would have gone off to their of activities to distract them from time passing before finding out whether or not Harry was expelled from their school.

Danielle walked slowly down the hall, half hoping that she wouldn't have to talk to Hermione if she couldn't find which room was hers. However, Danielle soon found that it didn't take long at all. The door was left open and she could see clearly from the hall that Hermione was sitting on her bed, doing what appeared to be knitting.

Danielle admitted to herself that there was no excuse now, so after a moment's hesitation, she knocked on the door.

Hermione looked up from her work. When she saw that it was Danielle, there was a quiet intake of breath coming from her that made the inside of Danielle's chest drop into the pit of her stomach.

"Danielle! Er…hi." Hermione set down whatever she was knitting in her lap and smiled nervously at Danielle.

"Am I interrupting something that I shouldn't?" said Danielle uncertainly, trying to be respectful. It was already clear to her that she was the last person Hermione expected to be knocking on her door.

"Oh…er…no, I just…" Hermione stuttered gesturing towards the crude knitting she had been doing before simply setting the project aside and facing Danielle directly. "Er…did you want something?"

_Aside from killing Danny for making me have to do this?_ Danielle thought in her head. She was half wanting to just shake her head and leave with some excuse, but she knew there was a job she needed to get done for Dumbledore. He was depending on her to go to Hogwarts and she couldn't betray that kind of trust, even if she was normally shy around new people.

"It's just…" Danielle began slowly. "I was told to go to you for reading materials. At least until I get my own."

"Reading materials?" said Hermione, her face screwing up in confusion. "For what?"

Danielle shrugged, but inwardly braced herself. "For classes in Hogwarts."

Hermione blinked, staring at Danielle, "Wait, you mean you're coming to Hogwarts with us?"

Danielle leaned against the doorframe, trying to act casual. "Dumbledore gave me the invite a few nights ago."

"Well…that's…that's brilliant. You'll love it there, I'm sure," said Hermione, rather sheepishly in Danielle's opinion, even though she was trying to sound glad. Then Hermione seemed to be in thought for a moment before she spoke again. "Although, you go to school back in America, don't you? What about that?"

"Is there a problem with me transferring to a new school for a year?"

"No! Of course not, it's just…you're fifteen."

Danielle made a face, wondering what her age had anything to do with, other than that Hermione was probably now trying to just make excuses to avoid having to go to the same school as her, as she had predicted.

"You'll be in fifth year with us, right?"

"That's what I heard," said Danielle with a shrug.

"Well— and I don't mean to be rude by this—but…well…you'll be getting a bit of a late start, don't you think?"

"Which is why Dumbledore told me to get started on catching up as soon as possible."

Hermione shrugged, seeing the point in this. "Well…all right then…er…what subjects will you be taking?" she asked, swinging her feet off the bed to sit on the edge.

"Well…" Danielle reached into her hooded shirt pocket and pulled out the note Dumbledore had left her. Then she crossed the room, unfolding it and presenting it to Hermione. "Professor Dumbledore gave me this list of recommendations."

Hermione slowly took the paper from Danielle and her eyes ran over the list, finding at the bottom the unmistakable signature of her own headmaster. She seemed to be confused by the selection of the classes. Perhaps it was normally customary for some of the other courses that required the demonstration with a wand to be taken. Either way, whatever was on the paper was making Hermione look up at her with uncertainty in her eyes.

Unable to take the suspense for any longer, Danielle let out a frustrated sigh, leaning her back against the wall beside the bed. "You don't trust me, do you."

It wasn't a question, based on the tone. Hermione blinked up at her unexpectedly as if afraid she might have done something wrong.

Danielle shoved her hands in her pockets, looking down at the floor, not wanting to make eye-contact with the girl that was obviously uncomfortable around her.

After a moment in which Hermione just stared at Danielle, taking in her solemnity, she cleared her throat. "Listen, I'm sorry about Ron earlier. He can be a bit tactless sometimes."

Danielle shook her head. "He's not the only one who's scared of me and my cousin—Don't deny it. I've noticed you guys whispering behind my back all the time since we've been here."

"No, please, it's just…" Hermione stuttered before her sentence faded out as she lowered Dumbledore's list to her lap and looked to the side. "Well…try to think of it from this perspective." Danielle rolled her eyes, noticing that Hermione was still trying to deny she felt the same as the other kids did about her. "It's just not fair is all."

Danielle gave her a perplexed look.

"I mean, it's usually the Wizarding World's top priority to keep itself secret from the Muggle world—"

"You're putting me in the same category as Muggles?"

"No, it's just…" Hermione said quickly. "We have _reason_ for keeping our secrets and here you are, just stumbled upon and suddenly let in on everything about the magical world when you're not even telling the Order of the Phoenix who _you_ are."

And how would Hermione know what they were telling the Order? Danielle thought with an inward huff. Not that anyone but Dumbledore needed to know.

"After seeing the prejudices some of you guys have, why would we want to?" said Danielle.

"Oh no, it's not that I'm prejudice against you, really, it's just…you're from The States, right? Have you ever heard of the Salem Witch Trials?"

"You're Muggle-born, ever heard of biology labs?" Danielle's tone had risen more than she intended, but she had by this time, stepped away from the wall, giving Hermione a stern look.

Hermione looked taken aback and Danielle saw her face take on another wondering look as if trying to decipher the real meaning of her last sentence. In noticing this expression, Danielle was instantly regretting what she had said. That kind of thing was bound to give something away later that she would rather not have to explain.

Danielle leaned herself against the wall again, taking a deep breath to try and calm herself. Hermione opened her mouth to speak when Danielle held up a hand to stop her. "I'll just say this," she said, knowing Hermione was about to ask what she had meant by _biology labs_. "You guys aren't the only ones with reason to keep secrets."

"Like how the whole house was decontaminated overnight?" said Hermione in thought and then looking up at Danielle suspiciously.

Danielle stood there, trying to look innocent, but already having a feeling there was something Hermione knew. She was silent as Hermione began to explain.

"I was up late that night reading when the house and everything in it suddenly became translucent. Next thing I knew, a whole layer of filth just fell off everything in the entire house. I may not know that much about how house-elf magic works, but I know Kreacher couldn't have done that. I couldn't find anything that could explain it in any spell book either and the _Daily Prophet_ seemed to just ignore it."

Danielle shook her head towards the ceiling. "Well, it's not the first time I've been judged because of weird things happening around me."

With that, she reclaimed the list from Hermione and turned for the door. Perhaps Fred and George would be more helpful in this, since they were more excited about how she did things rather than nervous or prying. Once Danielle had put her hand on the doorknob, however, intending to close the door behind her, she suddenly stopped, her head playing through the words Hermione had said last.

"Wait a sec…" Danielle turned to Hermione again, looking confused. "The _Daily Prophet_?"

Grimmauld Place was a Muggle residential area and the intangibility of the house had only happened a few days ago. What would wizard newspaper reporters have been doing there in the first place, let alone at the hour of the night it had been to be able to see the house clean itself? Even if Hermione had been awake to witness it, why would she think it would be in the _Daily Prophet_?

"Something like that happened before on the same year that statue in the town square was put up," said Hermione. "I don't suppose you've seen it yet?"

Danielle's mind suddenly went into overdrive, remembering full well of the event that led to the putting up of the very statue Hermione spoke of: The one of Danny in Phantom form after he had led the world to go intangible to save it from asteroid obliteration.

"There's a statue of a man they call Danny Phantom, right here in London. He's considered a legendary hero among the Muggles; one that saved the world." Hermione went on, seeming to just be acting out of habit in blurting out whatever she knew of any subject. Little did she know that what was thought to be little more than annoying to her friends was making Danielle's heart race. "I've also read somewhere that he's related to a family of renowned Ghost-Hunters in America called the…Fentons..."

Hermione stopped mid-lecture and Danielle's heart was now thumping as she saw realization coming from behind the young witch's eyes. Danielle was absolutely sure that the Order of the Phoenix had mentioned hers and Danny's surname enough that Hermione was about to catch on. She could see it coming.

"But _your_ last name is Fenton, isn't it?" asked Hermione, staring at Danielle analytically. "Do you and your cousin happen to know anything about…" she stopped again in thought before her eyes widened. "Oh my goodness…it _is_ your cousin isn't it?" —Danielle quickly looked down the hall for anyone else that might be within earshot— "He's that Ghost-Hero of the Muggle world, Danny Pha—"

Hermione was cut off with Danielle suddenly swinging the bedroom door shut, locking it as she stared at Hermione, her heart now pounding on the inside of her chest so hard, she felt it might burst.

"What do you know?" said Danielle urgently.

Hermione's eyes shifted anxiously between Danielle and the locked door as if afraid she was intending to hurt her; now that Danielle had discovered she knew something she wasn't meant to. As Hermione stared at the raven-haired girl, however, she noticed that she was looking about as scared as she was feeling. Hermione watched warily as Danielle seemed to be sifting through her mind at lightning-speed. Then her eyes widened, horrorstruck.

"Hermione, what have you told the others?" said Danielle, taking a sudden step towards her, making Hermione shirk back involuntarily.

"Nothing! I swear! I only thought of it just now." Hermione said quickly, shaking her head. Then she looked to the side adding in a whisper, "…I can't believe I never even…"

Danielle let out a heavy sigh, hiding her eyes behind her hand as she backed up against the door. Well, this was just perfect, she thought. Term had not even started yet and both hers and Danny's cover had already been blown. Danielle moaned miserably, sliding her back down the locked door, sitting on the floor and burying her face in her hands. She should have known with Hermione being Muggle-born that it was only a matter of time before she figured it out, especially with a statue of Danny being right in the middle of London. Why hadn't she thought of that? How could she not have been more careful?

"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm not judging you, really." Hermione said quickly, probably from having seen Danielle's despair. "I'm just…surprised is all." Danielle gave Hermione a doubtful look. "Muggles shouldn't even know ghosts exist and yet there's a statue of what they refer to as the Ghost-Hero in the capital of every nation of the world. Despite what my parents have said about it, I half expected the story behind it to be a myth. Then again, no myth that's that well known is only two years old. Funny. Danny seems shorter than the statue depicts. I never knew he was so young. Perhaps you can clear something up for me about him, you being his cousin and all. What's the _real_ reason he's called the Ghost-Hero?"

"You've obviously looked into it. What do you think?" said Danielle, rather frustrated and having not absorbed half of the first part of what Hermione had just been rambling.

"Well, I've read some articles in the Muggle media about him that say he's a half-ghost hybrid with incredible power. But…I've seen ghosts at Hogwarts. I've talked with them."

Danielle perked up in curiosity before Hermione continued.

"They're simply imprints of wizards that once lived. They can't eat or sleep, or even touch."

So the Wizarding World also had ghosts. They just hadn't caught onto Danielle or Danny sooner because it's not the type of ghost they were used to. In fact the ghosts that Hermione described seemed to be barely significant to them at all. This piqued Danielle's interest even more as she started to wonder about these differences. The wizards here in this house were taking the Fentons' ghost-powers to be a different type of magic, but evidently it was just that there were different types of ghosts. Danielle started to think going to Hogwarts would be more interesting than she thought. Not just undercover work. She could also do some research that Danny's parents would undoubtedly envy if she were allowed to tell them about it.

"But Danny Phantom seems to be completely different." Hermione continued. "I've read about him having a variety of different abilities that are off the scale."

"So you're saying, because he's not what you expect, he's not a ghost at all?" said Danielle, folding her arms.

"Well, the whole concept is completely contradictory." Hermione argued. "How can one be half dead and half alive?"

"Believe me, we've been trying to figure that one out ourselves for years." As Danielle was speaking, she was also straining her ears for sounds or signs of anyone that might be listening outside the door. She heard nothing, thank goodness, but she was determined not to let anyone else in on as much as she could help. "But either way, he's still a born human and he still has ghost DNA that gave him ghost-powers."

"But no ghost could possibly have that kind of power." said Hermione skeptically.

Danielle felt she could have started laughing. Hermione was clearly the researching type, but also narrow-minded, which was surprising for one born of parents that had no magic. Her parents had to have heard about Danny Phantom saving the world. Had Hermione been in the Wizarding World for so long already that she paid more attention to Wizard news than Muggle?

Then again, Hermione had been learning magic before Danny had even obtained his powers. Perhaps even her muggle parents had assumed the Earth going intangible had something to do with the world their daughter was now a part of. Perhaps in taking notice of the Wizarding World first, they were just as confused as she was about that event.

Danielle looked attentively at Hermione, thinking that she may as well see how much she would be willing to accept and how much she would figure out on her own. After all, she had already figured out the part of the statue in London being of her cousin.

"What do you know about the ghosts in Amity Park, Hermione?" Danielle began.

Hermione hesitated for a moment before shrugging. "Er…well…that they're rumored to come from some other world: That they behave more like a poltergeist in the way that they're destructive and mischievous. But poltergeists can't go through solid objects or turn invisible without a cloak. Perhaps it's only what the Muggles _thought_ Danny was doing. Perhaps it's some sort of camouflage or apparition or illusion spell."

Now Danielle really did laugh, running a hand trough her long bangs. "And I was just starting to worry that you were too smart for me." Hermione looked at her strangely. "You already worked out that we're not from the Wizarding World. You were even accusing me only a second ago of prying into your secrets. And yet here you are, instantly assuming that we can't possibly have powers you don't."

Hermione gave her an outraged look as if insulted, which Danielle found she really didn't mind.

"Well…how would you explain it then?" said Hermione.

Danielle scoffed. "I could give you a personal demonstration if you like, but I kind of wonder if I should even bother."

"Why's that?"

"Because you and your magic passé are clearly so wrapped up in keeping yourselves hidden from the people that wouldn't understand that you've never even considered the possibility that there might be other worlds that want to hide from you for the same reasons: Worlds with their own sets of rules and possibilities that you wouldn't believe."

"Are you saying you believe in the existence of such a world?" said Hermione, looking at Danielle as if she was thinking she was crazy. Danielle couldn't believe how skeptical Hermione was being.

"How long have you known about the Wizarding World, Hermione?"

"Since I was eleven. A representative from Hogwarts came to deliver a letter of invitation to me, and explained why strange things happened around me."

"And before that happened, did _you_ believe there was such a thing as wizards or magic? I know _I_ didn't." Danielle paused only to watch Hermione's eyes shift to the side in thought. "If there's one thing I've learned in my life, it's that anything's possible."

Danielle relaxed against the closed door, feeling satisfaction in seeing the mixture of feelings crossing Hermione's face while still listening for sounds coming from the hall or any of the rooms next to them, confirming that no one was listening. After a short silence in which Hermione's skepticism seemed to be lifting, even if only slightly, she spoke again, slowly.

"So, you mean to say this…other world…is where your cousin is from?"

"He has powers that are like the ones _from_ that world." Danielle said with a shrug.

"And…so do you?" said Hermione.

That's when Danielle remembered that both she and Danny had already mentioned several times that they had the same powers. Danielle let out a heavy sigh. There was no point in trying to hide it now, though they should probably make a note of what information to give out so soon for future reference.

"Yeah." Danielle finally answered.

The two girls remained silent for a moment, allowing Hermione to attempt to absorb everything they had just discussed.

"Hermione," said Danielle standing up and walking up to the bed again.

Hermione looked up at her as she approached and stared, surprised as Danielle knelt at the side of the bed, looking at her as if begging.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone," said Danielle. Her voice was strong, but her eyes were desperate. "Not your friends, not the Order—"

"Well…who would believe me anyway?" scoffed Hermione. Indeed, Danielle could tell on her face that Hermione was still having a hard time deciding whether or not she herself believed her.

"You'd be surprised." Danielle replied.

She sat herself on the floor again, leaning her back against the wall beside the bed, folding her arms on top of her knees and staring off to the side with a nervous expression as if reflecting on a bad memory.

"I don't know what wizards would do, but the whole Muggle world already knows about us. Some consider us dangerous and…would rather have us…"

Danielle dared not go any further, but she didn't have to. It was all Hermione needed to suddenly realize what she had meant in mentioning biology labs before.

"I promise I won't say anything." Hermione said sincerely.

"And I can trust you with that promise?" said Danielle, giving Hermione a probing look.

"I swear it on my wand." Hermione replied instantly. "And if it's any consolation, it's not the first time I've been asked to keep secrets even from Ron and Harry."

Danielle's unwavering eyes scanned Hermione's face for a long moment before she felt satisfied and looked down at the floor.

"I'd appreciate that," she said quietly.

Another long silence took place in which Danielle just stared off into space, wondering about the consequences of Hermione knowing this much already by the time she got to Hogwarts. How many other Muggle-borns in Hogwarts would recognize her last name? There was no way she could create a false name now with Harry and the Weasley's already knowing her by it. Come to think of it, did Danny know about the statue of himself in London yet?

Meanwhile, Hermione was staring at Danielle with a whole new light, feeling the entire situation had reversed, if not backfired on her. She had scolded Ron back down in the kitchen for being rude when she, Hermione, was being no different when this conversation first started. It wasn't Danielle that needing to earn her trust, it was Hermione that needed to earn Danielle's. She still felt she couldn't understand this alternate world Danielle had spoken of, but Hermione's thirst in wanting to find out whatever she could was drawing her in. However, if she was to find out anything more about this girl and what she was capable of, she supposed she'd have to start taking her previous advice about Kreacher in proving Danielle's assumptions of possible treason wrong.

"Say, er…" Hermione began in thought. "Do you still want me to look over that list for you?"

Danielle looked up at her as if considering her for a moment as if surprised by this comment before slowly pulling out the piece of paper and handing it back to Hermione.

"If you wouldn't mind," said Danielle with a half-smile.

Hermione looked over the contents of the list again, biting her lower lip and now having a better idea of why this selection of classes was recommended to Daneille. "Tell you what. I'll put some notes on this and give it back to you in a minute," she said, giving Danielle what she hoped was a casual but friendly look before Danielle bobbed her head to the side in approval.

"In the meantime—" Hermione reached under her bed and pulled out a book bag, setting it on the mattress in front of her before opening it and reaching her hand inside, sifting through its contents.

Danielle watched her do this with a quizzical look before Hermione pulled out a thick volume and handed it to Danielle with a smile.

"—I'd recommend reading this."

Danielle read the title _Hogwarts, A History_ on the book before hesitantly taking it.

"It's not on the required reading list but I find it to be a wonderful reference. One of the first books I've ever read when starting at Hogwarts myself." Hermione explained.

"Uh…Okay. Thanks," said Danielle, setting the book in her lap and immediately opening it up to the introductory page.

Hermione fished a quill and inkbottle from her book bag and made herself comfortable on the bed as she looked over the list in concentration, already doing what she had promised in jotting down notes about the different classes and what to expect.

"Might be a good idea to get some ideas from the others as well. Our opinions differ in some of these subjects."

Danielle already disliked the idea of having to talk to anyone else at the moment, informing them that she was going to be going to Hogwarts. Then again, she supposed Hermione had a point in getting as much input and opinions as possible from other Hogwarts students aside from born braniacs.

After a moment of silent writing and reading, Hermione spoke up.

"Danielle, might I ask one more question?" she asked with wonder in her voice.

"I may or may not be willing to answer," replied Danielle lazily, already getting interested in what she was reading.

"That night you and your cousin first came here. What was it you did to Fred and George?"

Danielle looked up from the book giving Hermione a confused expression.

"During dinner." Hermione clarified. "How did they fall out of their chairs like that? What did you do?"

Danielle rested the side of her head in her hand, looking at Hermione as if in consideration, but this time, more playfully than nervous or suspicious.

"I don't know. You sure you'd be able to handle it? You wont just think you've gone crazy or that I'm playing some kind of mind trick on you or…"

"Well I can't guarantee I won't be surprised," confessed Hermione with a sheepish laugh. "To be honest, I still find the whole thing to be a bit unbelievable."

Danielle nodded in thought, not blaming Hermione. Many people had a hard time believing in ghosts at all before Danny Phantom came into the picture. The concept, 'seeing is believing' was a common one that people general took to be truth, even if a select few still didn't believe after the _seeing_ part.

"I'll do my best, though," said Hermione, almost pleadingly.

Danielle looked at her again, studying Hermione as if predicting her reaction to what she was about to share.

"Well…" Danielle began, closing _Hogwarts, A History_ (she was still only on the first page anyway) and placing it on her lap. She looked up at the ceiling as if trying to figure out the best way of wording her explanation. "For one thing, unlike the ghosts _you_ describe, ghosts from the Ghost Zone (that's the other world I was talking about) are primarily solid but can be intangible at will to go through solid objects."

Hermione nodded, trying to contain her surprise in hearing of a ghost capable of physical interaction as well as potential invulnerability.

Danielle proved it by holding out her hand for Hermione to shake. Hermione took it, feeling the solidity of the hand before Danielle turned it intangible, letting Hermione's fingers close in on each other in losing their grip on the now insubstantial hand. Hermione's eyes widened as she tried to grab hold of Danielle's hand again only to have it pass right through her palm.

Hermione stopped to look at her own hand, rubbing her fingers together, surprised that she barely felt anything when Danielle's hand was intangible. The ghosts at Hogwarts were always very cold to the touch if one allowed them to pass through anything living.

"The thing is—" Danielle set the copy of _Hogwarts, A History_ on top of the bed in front of Hermione where she could see it clearly. "—Our type of ghost can also share their intangibility with whatever they touch."

Again, she demonstrated by turning her whole arm intangible, reaching through the underside of the mattress. Her hand poked out through the top, near where the book was placed (giving Hermione a start), grabbing the book by the spine within Hermione's line of vision and phasing the book through the mattress and out again. Hermione was already blinking in surprise at what she just saw happen by the time Danielle was presenting the book that was now in her hand and holding it out for Hermione to touch.

Hermione was hesitant for a moment, but did as Danielle gestured. Like her hand from before, Hermione couldn't even touch her own volume. She was unable to grip it in any way before Danielle returned its solidity and opened it upon her lap again to the page she was reading before as if nothing unusual had happened to the book at all.

The wonder showed clearly on Hermione's face now. After a moment of consideration, she returned her attention to Danielle.

"So, you made their chairs ghostly? The twins'," she asked.

"That's one way of putting it," replied Danielle, not taking her eyes off the book.

"So they just fell through them?"

"Yup."

"Is that also how you've been cleaning the house?"

"It's hard for anything to stick to a surface that's not even solid. Or sit on, for that matter." Danielle added with a smile.

"And that stunt you pulled on them this morning that they wouldn't stop going on about? They were hoping their mother would send them upstairs again to fetch you when you were taking your time in coming down, in case you did it again. They suspected it was just a Trip Jinx, but…"

"Yeah. Intangibility had to do with that too."

Hermione looked to the side, linking all the strange events together. As overwhelming as it all was still, everything made sense now: The removing of the portrait and tapestry; the transport of the Doxies; the cleaning of the house…And Fred and George were still wondering how in the world the Fentons did it.

"I can't believe it," said Hermione quietly in bewilderment. "I know the secret behind some pranks that even Fred and George have no clue of."

Danielle looked at the young witch in wonder at this strange comment. When Hermione caught this expression, she thought for a moment and knew for certain that Fred and George themselves would have gasped if they ever found out she had said those words, considering how many times she had scolded them for the pranks she knew they had to do with.

A moment of silence followed in which the two girls glanced at each other. Then as if all tension had suddenly snapped, they both started to laugh.

_**All right. So Hermione now knows the full truth. But is that good or bad? You'll have to find out. (Dramatic music plays.) **_

_**What did you think of that happening this early in the story by the way? Was the conversation believable enough or was it sketchy? I kind of feel like it's still a little rough around the edges. Oh, and what about the trip stunt Danielle did on the twins?**_

_**Anyway. Any questions, comments, concerns, predictions, or ideas you'd like to share or express in your reviews, (so long as they're constructive and not just flaming) feel free to do so. ^_^**_

_**I think I'll need them after a while anyway, since I don't know when I'll be able to update again. No idea whatsoever. School is starting up for me again soon and I've got a few projects that I had hoped to get done a long time ago before the end of summer. For this reason, I'll be putting this fanfiction on hold for a little while. Don't know how long. But rest assured, I have every intention of coming back to it eventually. Thank you all for the support you've given me so far already. I never expected this crossover to be this well received compared to my other stories, especially when it's already been done multiple times before.**_

_**Until we meet again, my good readers. ^_^**_


	8. Learning

**_Finally. A new chapter up. This one's probably a bit short, considering how long you guys have had to wait, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. Thanks for your patience._**

**_Disclaimer: Danny Phantom was created by Butch Hartman and the Harry Potter books are by JK Rowling. I own nothing, save the design of the older Danielle you can find on my Deviantart page._**

**Chapter 8: Learning**

The only thing Danny found at all inviting about being woken up so early was that he was able to receive a heads-up before too many people were around.

He and Dumbledore first arrived at the hidden entrance to the Ministry of Magic at about six o' clock in the morning. Danny was in mid-yawn when he realized with a jolt that there was a giant statue of himself in his Phantom form standing right in the middle of the London Square. Dumbledore had already noted the statue curiously when Danny cursed himself for not thinking one those could be around. He turned invisible before Dumbledore could start seeing the resemblance (though Danny was beginning to wonder if he had already caught on). Only then did Danny find a place to properly take cover and Go Ghost. This way, he'd have full access to his powers before secretly following Dumbledore inside, by his instruction.

The old wizard had been right about Minister Fudge changing the time and place of Harry's hearing to try and get him to miss it. They had a bit of trouble finding the correct room on time, but they had luckily run into Kingsley who had found out of the change of venue (though still not even realizing that Danny was anywhere within the vicinity).

Danny currently hovered while invisible above the whole congregation in the courtroom on the tenth floor, watching the trial unfold. Of all the strange happenings he had witnessed since being first introduced to the Wizarding World, this was the part that seemed to be about as close to normal as would be considered. At least according to what would be Muggle standards; about the same procedures with just as much corruption as would be expected in the government during such a crisis.

Dumbledore had already called in a witness named Arabella Fig (Danny remembered the name being mentioned the first time they met Dumbledore) who had been there to at least see the Dementors before Harry had chased them off with his 'Patronus Charm' (which some people in the Wizengamot seemed quite impressed to find out that Harry could do in the first place). When no excuses of the Minister seemed to work, he then tried to pin Harry down for passed misdeeds. Dumbledore successfully retaliated every time with proof of Harry's innocence and stating how the law was clearly more in Harry's favor.

However, even when no one could deny the existence of Dementors in Little Whinging, Fudge still refused to believe, despite all evidence presented both in this courtroom and in the past, that Voldemort had returned. Danny sighed, shaking his head after Dumbledore's most recent plea for the Ministry to see reason had failed. With that, Dumbledore turned to address the whole Wizengamot.

"In the matter of Harry Potter," Dumbledore said, returning the subject to the present. "Clause seven of the Decree clearly states that wizards may use magic in the presence of Muggles in exceptional circumstances, which include life-threatening situations."

"Laws can be changed if necessary, Dumbledore," said Fudge savagely.

"Of course they can," said Dumbledore, inclining his head. "And you certainly have been making many changes, Cornelius. Why, in the few short weeks since I was asked to leave the Wizengamot, it has already become the practice to hold a full criminal trial to deal with a simple matter of underage magic."

Danny was satisfied to see a few members of the Wizengamot shift uncomfortably in their seats. Fudge turned a slightly deeper shade of puce than he already had been since Dumbledore had rendered him stumbling over his own words; which technically was since the Hogwarts headmaster had entered the courtroom. The witch on the Minister's right, however, merely gazed at Dumbledore, her toad-like face quite expressionless. She was the one Danny was feeling the most concerned about. As sweet and happy as she seemed to be, Danny always felt uneasy when he thought he was winning over his enemies but they didn't seem to be worried. This witch was behaving in the same uncomfortable fashion.

Dumbledore gestured that he had presented his case and that the final decision was now left to the Wizengamot. Danny looked down at Harry who seemed to be feeling just as uncertain as he was. Several times throughout the whole trial, the bespectacled teenager seemed to have been trying to catch Dumbledore's eye, but his headmaster had been averting him the whole time. Why; Danny wasn't sure. Hadn't Dumbledore been letting on that he knew Harry more than any of his other students?

As the Wizengamot's whispered conversations went on, Harry seemed to want to speak as if to clarify more to his own defense, but wasn't sure whether or not he should be speaking at this time. He resorted to just looking down at his shoes.

The whispering stopped. Danny ran a hurried, analytical eye over the whole Wizengamot, examining as many of their expressions and trying to interpret their body language to see if he could predict how the majority would vote.

When Danny was unsure he could make such a prediction, he had a mind to multiply himself and overshadow some of the members to vote in Harry's favor. However, only a second after that, he thought of Vlad and how he had done something of that exact nature to win an election.

No. Danny thought. He was not going to stoop to that level, even if to help someone else on a much smaller scale.

"Those in favor of conviction?" said Madam Bones' booming voice. She was one of the witches that seemed to be more reasonable throughout the hearing.

Several hands went up, including Fudge's and the toad-like witch. Danny fought back the urge to do something to keep anyone else from raising their hands. He tried to count as fast as he could, but Madam Bones had already gone on.

"Those in favor of clearing the accused of all charges?"

Danny's heart leapt as even more hands went up this time, including Madam Bones'. _Yes_. Danny couldn't hold in at least a whisper as Fudge glanced around at them all, looking as thought there was something large stuck in his throat. He took two deep breaths and then said, in a voice distorted by suppressed rage, "Very well, very well…Cleared of all charges."

"Excellent," said Dumbledore briskly. With that, he simply swept from the dungeon without another word.

This abrupt departure made Danny scoff. _All in a day's work against a self-absorbed government, I guess_. Seeing that the rest of the Wizengamot was gathering up their things to leave, Danny felt no more need to remain. He quietly glided out of the room to follow Dumbledore.

Dumbledore was already half way to the lift they came in from by the time Danny was able to catch up with him. It was only when Dumbledore was alone in the lift that he spoke at all.

"Danny?" he said out of the corner of his mouth.

"That was awesome, Mr. Dumbledore." Danny responded quietly, but impressed at the same time.

Based on the hint of smugness he caught in the way Dumbledore was simply standing at that moment, Danny guessed he was quite impressed with himself as well.

Danny felt much less sleepy on the way back to Grimmauld Place than he had when he had left it that morning. This, however, did not make the Apperation with Dumbledore any less unpleasant.

After having felt like he had been compressed through a tight rubber tube again, Danny stumbled slightly, holding his head.

"Uhg. No offense, but if that's what teleporting really feels like, then maybe I'd rather not know how for a while," said Danny.

"I'm rather impressed you are able to cope so well with it, even your first time." Dumbledore commented, even as he had to pull Danny to his feet after a literally breathtaking sensation.

"Well, I can say I've dealt with worse." Danny said, shaking his head of the dizziness it had picked up. "Just not quite in that way before."

After Danny had the chance to fully regain himself, he looked around, finding they had landed undercover of a few trees back at Grimmauld Place. This was lucky, as Danny discovered only a second later that he had accidentally let go of his invisibility while Apperating. He had the first time as well, when Dumbledore had Apperated them to the Ministry earlier that morning. Danny really hoped that he wouldn't have to be using that method of transportation so often.

"Now, Daniel—"

"Just Danny, please." Danny said instantly, a bit more rushed than he had intended. It was only Vlad that ever called him Daniel, and he still hated the memory of that man and the pain he had caused.

"Of course." Dumbledore said, nodding as he pressed his fingertips together. "Now. Before you go back into Number Twelve, there is a matter I must address."

When Dumbledore bent down as if to whisper to Danny, the ghost-boy stood to attention. He could tell that the headmaster was meaning business.

"As the newest member of the Order of the Phoenix, you must swear to an oath of secrecy," said Dumbledore gravely. "The things you learn through the Order must not be shared with anyone outside it. Even to those you would trust the most."

"What about Dani?" asked Danny as he glanced for a moment at Number Twelve where he knew for sure Danielle would be waiting for him to return with a full report.

"I'm afraid this restriction also applies to your cousin," said Dumbledore, shaking his head.

"She knows how to keep a secret. Probably even better than I do," Danny argued.

"That's not the issue, Mr. Fenton."

Now it was Danny's turn to shake his head. "But you asked her directly to act on behalf of the Order by going to your school. How's it fair that she's doing you a service but not even knowing why?"

"She is capable of many things, my dear boy," replied Dumbledore, taking a moment to look at the hidden house where Danielle waited. "Hence my request she do such a service in the first place." He returned his attention to Danny. His expression fixed. "But she's still underage and her knowing too much could put her and others in danger."

"Yeah, yeah. Been there, done that," said Danny rolling his eyes. "But she can also help by knowing what's going on. Besides. I'm sure she's dealt with worse. And age never stopped the mayor of our hometown from designating her a local hero." Danny said this as he folded his arms with a furrowed expression, deliberately leaving out the part of the Amity Park Mayor being his life-long best friend that was no older than he himself was.

Dumbledore sighed heavily. "I understand how close the two of you must be, and therefore how hard it is most likely going to be for you to have to leave her in the dark. But I need your word of honor to not reveal any inkling, even to her, of the Order's operations."

Danny simply looked skeptical.

"Some agents of Voldemort at the Ministry have children that will be attending the same school as she will. Rumors have a tendency to get around; no matter how well either party is able to keep any secret. Should even a hint get out to Voldemort that your cousin might know something, he'll likely try to find a vulnerable point through her. And there is magic that allows wizards to read other's minds at his disposal.

"Ha." Danny scoffed, turning his back to Dumbledore. "I'd like to see him even try to get a hold of her. Much less pull one of those on _my_ little cousin."

"All the same, I'd rather not risk it with the dangers involved. In a way, her task will be nearly, if not just, as dangerous as yours will be to the Order, just for being who and what she is under a corrupted ministry's watch."

There was a short pause in which Danny considered this before he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Danny glanced behind him to look for a moment at Dumbledore before the wizard continued.

"Further, I foresee a fairness dispute surfacing once word gets out, especially to the Weasley children, that you're now a member of the Order. If they found out that your underage cousin was also being let in on more than they were allowed, I can imagine it will only make her part at Hogwarts even more difficult than it is already going to be."

Danny looked down at the ground, examining the tree roots at his feet. Danielle was not going to like this at all. She was the one that discovered the Wizarding World in the first place. Who knew how she was going to react to Danny having to keep secrets about it from her?

However, as much as Danny hated to admit it, Dumbledore had a point. Both hybrid cousins were already standing out to the Wizarding children as it was, even if they didn't know exactly how. Danielle had always had a hard time making friends with people apart from the ones she already had through Danny. Truthfully, one of the reasons Danny had decided to remain in Britain after completing their task for the Prime Minister was that he had half hoped it would give Danielle a chance to meet some new people. As well as they may have learned to keep secrets over the years, that didn't mean that people wouldn't be able to tell that they were hiding something in the first place. People tended to get nosey when they suspected something wrong. If the other children were going to act in such a way around Danielle just because she had powers they didn't understand, they would surely shun her for unfairness in the distribution of information. Danny would never forgive himself for robbing her of an opportunity to befriend other people, even if they already had a poor start.

"All right, fine. I promise not to tell her." Danny said with a heavy sigh.

Then he shrugged off Dumbledore's hand from his shoulder and turned to face him directly again.

"But not because I agree her knowing endangers the Order." He said sternly. "You may know the most about our powers in your world, but you still don't know half of what she's really capable of."

With that, Danny turned invisible and floated towards the house, leaving Dumbledore standing there, expressionless.

The silver-bearded wizard followed to come inside a second later, but only for a short time to get a status report from the Order. Danny didn't turn visible again, nor return to human form, until he was safe in his and Danielle's room where he found her reading a book on her bed.

Danny's prediction of her reaction had been fairly accurate. She got upset about him having to keep secrets from her about the Order. The fact that he had already promised secrecy was something she could not argue with anymore.

After Danielle had admitted defeat, she slumped on her bed with a childish pout.

"So you're not allowed to tell me _anything_ about why you had to sneak off so early, leaving nothing but a note?"

Danny was about to just shake his head with yet another apology within the last five minutes, but considered for a moment. Dumbledore had said he couldn't say what the Order was doing, but _he_ wasn't really doing anything for the Order just yet. Danny would have to be careful of what he revealed, but there were probably still some things he could tell her that would at least satisfy her.

Danny smiled. "Watching Harry's hearing," he said in almost a whisper.

"What? They had it already?" Danielle looked over at the clock that was sitting on the desk. Then she gave Danny a confused expression. "But I thought it wasn't for another half hour."

"They changed the time and place of the trial, last-minute." said Danny, throwing himself on his own bed. "Dumbledore suspected the Minister would try to get him to miss it somehow, so we went three hours earlier to be safe."

Danny took a second to glance over at Danielle, seeing that she had a smug look.

"I love it when the bad guy's own plans backfire on them," she said with a snigger. "But what were _you_ there for?"

Danny shrugged. "I think Dumbledore just wanted me to get familiar with names and faces of some of the Ministry officials."

"So he didn't need you for any…backup influence?"

Danny scoffed, knowing she was referring to overshadowing; the power that ghosts from the Ghost Zone had to possess any living being and use their body and voice at their own leisure.

"I don't think he even knows about that power just yet." Danny replied with a shake of his head. "And it's probably one of the ones we need to keep secret the most for now. I had thought about it while watching the hearing, but turns out I didn't need to."

Danielle stared for a moment, wide-eyed, but in thought. "So you mean…Harry's not expelled?"

When Danny simply smiled, Danielle couldn't hold in a sudden outburst of, "Yes!"

"Shhh!" Danny said quickly, shooting a finger over his lips. Then he said in almost a whisper, "I'm sure Harry will want to be the one to tell them once he gets back."

Danielle became very still and very silent after that, but still grinning ear to ear as Danny laid back on his pillow.

"Yeah. From the looks of it, Dumbledore had it in the bag from the beginning." He said smugly, remembering the look of Fudge squirming when Dumbledore caught him at every turn.

"Guess the Wizard government isn't _entirely_ hopeless then." Danielle commented, picking the book back up she had been reading earlier.

Danny noticed only now that it was a book that was unfamiliar to him, but he ignored it for the time being. "Yeah. It's reassuring at least. But the problem is, a lot of the ones that voted against Harry are the ones with the most influence. He may still be allowed to go to school, but I can't say it's going to be easy for him."

"Yeah." Danielle agreed. "And being undercover may be harder than we thought."

Danny knew this already from seeing the Danny Phantom monument that morning in the Square, but he wondered how Danielle had figured this.

Before he could ask, there was an unexpected knock on the bedroom door. Hermione entered a second later.

"Hey Danielle, I…Oh. Danny." She stopped suddenly in realizing Danny was also present. "When did you get back?"

"About five minutes." Danny shrugged, trying to look innocent. He had forgotten that he and his cousin had not been using telepathy for this whole conversation.

Hermione looked down the hall with a befuddled expression. "Funny. I never heard anyone…Oh." She stopped again as if having a thought. "Or did you come in by way of the…'phantom', so to speak?"

In hearing the word 'Phantom,' Danny instantly perked up. He looked over at Danielle who, to his surprise, didn't seem worried in the slightest.

"She knows." Danielle said casually. "And so far, she hasn't told anyone else." Then, she added in a bantering whisper, "Oh, and she wants your autograph."

"I never said that!" Hermione suddenly blurted, though Danny thought he caught her face turning a little red.

"You can send it to your parents." Danielle teased with a shrug. "Tell them you met a celebrity they'll actually know about."

"Well, that doesn't mean it's necessary. I mean…" Hermione stuttered as the color in her cheeks became even more noticeable.

"Anyway!" Danny interrupted loudly, silencing the banter he never saw coming. Then he turned to the young witch, figuring Danielle would tell him later how she found out in the first place. "Did you want something, Hermione? Besides the autograph?" He couldn't help adding the last part with a bob of his head.

All three of them at least smiled this time, even if it did make Hermione even redder in the face.

"I just…thought I'd show this to Danielle." Hermione said hesitantly, holding up a sheet of parchment that was in her hand. She seemed a bit wary of Danny as she crossed the room to a curious Danielle who held out her hand for the parchment.

"It's an order form to Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley. That's where we typically get our schoolbooks from." Hermione explained as Danielle took a look at the parchment. "For some reason, our booklists haven't come yet for this year, but I suspect the _Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5_ by Miranda Goshawk will be on it. That's usually an update they make, depending on what year you're in at Hogwarts."

After a short scan of the form, Danielle gave Hermione a confused and surprised look. "When did you get this?"

Hermione shrugged. "I always keep a couple in case there are books I think of getting. You can use one if you'd like. I also have some ink and a quill you can borrow."

"I'll use a pen, thanks. Unless…"

Danielle paused in thought before Hermione answered what she was thinking.

"I doubt it would be the first time new students have used a Muggle writing utensil for these. From my experience though, straight ink works better on parchment. Makes it easier to see what you've written, especially with the way the parchment is tinted."

"Hmm. Maybe I _will_ try a quill then." Danielle considered. "Better get used to one while I can."

Hermione was already ahead of her in taking out an inkbottle and quill, handing them to Danielle.

"Oh, but wait!" Danielle suddenly said, making Hermione and Danny stare.

After looking at the form again, Danielle took on a bit of a concerned expression. "Do you think other muggle-borns at the school will recognize my last name the way you did?"

Hermione must not have thought of this before. She glanced between both the Fenton cousins in contemplation. She went over to the bedroom door, taking a peak down the hall. Then she returned to Danielle, lowering her voice.

"Well, Harry was raised by muggles and _he_ hasn't made the connection yet. Although, given what I had heard about the Dursleys, they would have no interest in Danny Phantom anyway. In any case, though, Harry and Ron and the others already know your last name. If you started going by another one at school, that would really get them suspicious. At this point you may just have to chance your real one."

Danielle sighed, looking down at the parchment in thought. Danny took this time to take another look down the hall to make sure they were still safe to talk about such a sensitive topic.

"Although, to be fair," Hermione continued on a seemingly lighter note, "I had to do a lot of digging to find out as much as I did about Danny Phantom and his…connections. And it certainly doesn't say much about _you_. If people do ask, that doesn't mean they'd have to know you're…well…_alike_."

Danielle found comfort in this. Hermione had proven to be quite the quick study, but even she had a hard time finding any information about Danielle and her association with Danny Phantom. Further, the name on the statue in London was of Danny Phantom: Not the Fenton family. Additionally, now that Danielle thought about it, Harry was the one who was probably going to get most of the attention at Hogwarts with what the Daily Prophet had been saying about him all summer; shameful, but likely true.

Smiling up at Hermione for the reassurance and advice, she laid the order form on her bedside table and opened the inkbottle.

"I'll fill this out and give it back in a sec." Danielle said, picking up the quill Hermione had let her borrow. "I'm almost done with your book too."

"You can hold onto it until you get your own." Hermione shrugged with a smile as she turned to leave the room. "Once Harry gets back, I'll ask him if I can borrow his owl to send off the form once you've finished."

"Thanks again." Danielle called after Hermione as she went through the doorway.

Just before the young witch had closed the door behind her, Danielle thought she caught a hint of concern cross Hermione's face at the mention of Harry.

As much as everyone kept talking about Harry being cleared at the hearing, Danielle had felt a cloud of tension hanging over the whole house all morning. She now knew through Danny that he was already cleared, but she wouldn't be able to share that information without raising suspicion. Besides. Harry would be back soon to tell them the good news himself.

As Danielle got to work on her form, Danny stood by the now closed door, almost in disbelief. He couldn't say he was surprised any longer that Hermione found out about the Phantoms, as she was born of non-magic parents. They would naturally have heard of him and told their daughter. The part that interested Danny the most was that Danielle seemed to trust Hermione. When she first came in, they were even bantering each other the way only friends would. Danny never expected such a development. At least not this soon.

Danny smiled behind Danielle's back. He had been worried only ten minutes ago that Danielle would never realize that she had more social potential, but it looked like she was at least learning. He had told Dumbledore that he shouldn't think Danielle incapable, but perhaps it was he, Danny, that needed to stop underestimating her.

Not long after Danielle had filled out the form and given it back to Hermione, the Fenton cousins heard the sound of the front door opening downstairs. About a minute later, a collection of cheers sounded throughout the whole house, instantly indicating to them that Harry and Mr. Weasley had returned and told them that Harry was allowed to return to the magic school. (Had the ghost-powered cousins not been able to take down the portrait of Sirius' mother days before, the cheers likely would have awoken it.)

Danny and Danielle hurried downstairs in time to notice that Fred, George and Ginny had started doing a kind of war dance to a chant that went, "_He got off, he got off, he got off_—"

"Danielle!" Hermione called when she saw her and Danny coming from upstairs. Everyone had gathered into the kitchen where the cavalry was taking place.

"Oh, it's so wonderful!" Hermione said as she rushed up to Danielle. "Harry was cleared! He's coming back to Hogwarts with us this year!"

"I figured as much." Danielle commented, eyeing the three redheads that made up the continued chorus of, "_He got off, he got off, he got off_—"

"That's enough, settle down!" shouted Mr. Weasley, though he too was smiling. "Listen, Sirius, Lucius Malfoy was at the Ministry—"

"What?" said Sirius sharply.

Danny perked up at this too.

"_He got off, he got off, he got off_—"

"Be quiet, you three! Yes, we saw him talking to Fudge on level nine, then they went up to Fudge's office together. Dumbledore aught to know."

"Absolutely," said Sirius. "We'll tell him, don't worry."

"Well, I'd better get back to work. Molly, I'll be late, I'm covering for Tonks, but Kingsley might be dropping in for dinner—"

"_He got off, he got off, he got off_—"

"That's enough—Fred—George—Ginny!" said Mrs. Weasley as Mr. Weasley left the kitchen. "Harry, dear, come and sit down, have some lunch, you hardly ate breakfast…"

Ron and Hermione sat down opposite Harry looking happier than they had since the Fenton's first arrived at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. The gloomy house seemed warmer and more welcome all of a sudden.

"Oi! Where'd _you_ come from?" Ron suddenly blurted in surprise, pointing at Danny, whom no one had noticed was among them the whole time.

Fred, George, and Ginny's chanting died down and everyone else was now turning their heads towards Danny. That's when he himself remembered he had secretly phased inside the house instead of using the front door with Dumbledore.

Danny was about to give an explanation for his unnoticed return when Hermione elbowed Ron in the ribs. "Don't be rude, Ron, he's been back for at least half an hour now."

The surprise of Hermione being the one to cover for him nearly caught Danny completely off guard, but he managed to recover fast enough to play along convincingly.

"Thanks. At least _someone_ noticed besides my own cousin." Danny scowled, folding his arms as if offended from being practically ignored the whole time he was back.

Ron looked a bit sheepish now. "But…I never even heard anyone come in." Ron said, rubbing his side where it hurt from Hermione nudging him.

"Must have been so concerned about Harry, you failed to notice Dumbledore had dropped him off," Danielle put in with a would-be-knowing-look at Ron.

"Everyone does seem quite relieved considering they all knew I'd get off," replied Harry, smiling.

True. Everyone had been anxious before he had returned. Now the embarrassment was shifting to them as the attention had successfully turned away from Danny's strange behavior.

_You probably should use the door from now on, though. _Danny heard Danielle say in his head.

_Yeah. I'll make a note of that_. Danny agreed telepathically

Fred, George and Ginny resumed their singing (much to the annoyance of Mrs. Weasley) and Ron began dishing great mounds of mashed potatoes onto everyone's plates.

" 'Course, once Dumbledore turned up on your side, there was no way they were going to convict you," Ron said happily, clearly still trying to pretend he was never worried.

"Yeah, he swung it for me," said Harry.

Suddenly, he clapped his hand over his forehead as if something had stung him.

"What's up?" said Hermione, looking alarmed.

"Scar," Harry mumbled. "But it's nothing…. It happens all the time now…."

Danielle had noticed this as well and looked between Harry and Hermione with curiosity as well as concern.

None of the others had noticed a thing; all of them were now helping themselves to food while gloating over Harry's narrow escape. Hermione looked anxious about Harry, but before she could say anything else to him, Ron said happily, "I bet Dumbledore turns up this evening to celebrate with use, you know."

"I don't think he'll be able to, Ron," said Mrs. Weasley, setting a huge plate of roast chicken in front of Harry. "Danny? Did he tell you anything about his plans this evening?"

By this time, the attention had diverted from Danny enough for him to be more comfortable in answering, "Not really. Just that he'd be busy all day."

"I thought so," said Mrs. Weasley with a nod.

"_HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF,_ _HE GOT OFF_ —"

"SHUT UP!" roared Mrs. Weasley.

After about an hour of pleasant conversation to a well-cooked meal, everyone began to file out of the kitchen, going separate ways through the house to further celebrate Harry's victory in their own ways. Danny noticed Hermione following Danielle upstairs, talking about what likely was something Danielle had come across in one of the books the young witch had lent her.

They had just reached the landing and were proceeding down the hall together when Danny waved, calling over to them.

"Hey, Hermione! What are you doing with my cousin?" He said banteringly.

Hermione looked between the two Fentons, confused as if wondering if she had done something wrong.

Danielle rolled her eyes shaking her head. "Hermione was just going to tell me a few more things about Hogwarts. That's all." she said.

"Okay," Danny shrugged. "Well, before you do, can I have a little talk with Hermione first?"

Both the girls stared for a moment before looking at each other. Then Danielle shot Danny a rather suspicious look.

_Don't worry; I'm not giving any warnings about trustworthiness. _ Danny reassured Danielle telepathically.

Considering Danny's overprotective streak, Danielle was still a bit skeptical. Still, she also secretly felt more at ease. If Danny felt he could trust Hermione with their secret, then perhaps she _had_ choose wisely in letting her in on it.

Danielle did her best to act like there was no secret message shared between her and Danny. Hermione may have known about the origin of their powers now, but she wasn't sure it was a good idea to tell her _all_ of what they could do with them: At least not yet.

Danielle shrugged, pretending like the situation was completely casual now. "I'll see you in the room, Hermione."

With that, she spun on her heal and strode down the hall, leaving an anxious looking Hermione standing in front of the ghost-powered superhero.

"So." Danny began, swinging his arms behind his back as he exhaled. "You know about our…brand of 'magic' now."

"I've promised not to tell anyone else. I really won't." Hermione instantly said before she realized she was speaking a bit loud for this kind of conversation.

Danny almost laughed, raising his hands as if to calm her. "Easy, there. I never said I don't trust you. In fact, you've already proven we can by passing my cousin's approval." Danny recalled Hermione turning the embarrassment onto Ron when he had asked when Danny had returned.

This answer seemed to surprise Hermione. After a short pause, she carefully looked down both directions of the hall, as if checking for eavesdroppers. Then she lowered her voice, blushing.

"I really don't need the autograph," she said slowly.

Danny really did laugh this time. "No, it's not about that either." Then he leaned in, adding playfully, "Although, that doesn't mean I won't give you one if you ask."

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Hermione exhaled, shaking her head as she hid her eyes behind her hand. Though Danny thought he still saw her cheeks were red. "Are you and your cousin always like this?" she asked with a sigh.

"'fraid so," Danny said, smiling as he put his hands in his pockets. "And from the looks of it, you're going to have to get used to at least _one_ of us."

Hermione groaned miserably and Danny realized he had probably gone a bit too far, especially in not even knowing Hermione all that well. Danny rubbed his head, scoffing as if almost guiltily. He had a sudden image of his sister Jazz flying passed his memory and how they always teased each other back home.

"Man. I must be getting nostalgic." He thought to himself out load.

Hermione cocked her head to the side, confused.

"But anyway." Danny said, realizing he had gone off on a tangent. "I just wanted to thank you."

Again, Hermione stood there, astonished. This seemed to be the last thing she was expecting. "M-Me? But…what for? What did I do?"

Danny thoughtfully looked up, passed Hermione to where he had seen Danielle disappear. His tone became softer and quite sincere as he stared off in that direction.

"Aside from me, Danielle's never found anyone she could really confide in before. Not on her own, anyway."

Hermione glanced behind her for a moment, but shrugged. "Well, she really didn't tell me much. And she only did because I was already starting to figure it out…"

Danny shook his head. "Hermione, as special as my cousin's considered to be back home, Dani's always had a hard time being around other people."

Hermione looked back down the hall and turned back to Danny with an expression of disbelief.

Danny shrugged passively. "She's had a really rough past." Then he took on an earnest expression. "Her being able to trust _anyone_ with even as much as she's told you is a huge step for her. Huge. I don't know what you did, but you've been the first outside her original circle to really give her a chance. One she was willing to take, no less."

There was a thoughtful pause after Danny was finished saying this in which Hermione seemed to really be taking this into realization. She really didn't know what to say in response. She had gathered that both the Fentons were obviously private people, but she never would have guessed either of them to be any degree of antisocialists. She simply assumed that Danielle was like that here because she was in a completely different country with only her cousin being the familiar thing she could refer to. Yet here she was, confronted by Danny Phantom himself who was expressing appreciation for her helping someone in a matter he acts like he himself had failed at: A hero such as himself.

Hermione found the whole situation flattering, but at the same time unexpected and…a bit overwhelming. She didn't feel like she had fully gained either of the Fenton's trust, but Danny himself was here telling her that she had already made a remarkable feat in just a few hours.

"Oh…it was nothing." Hermione finally said with a shrug, thinking of nothing else to do or say.

"More than _she_ probably even knows, actually." Danny corrected. Then after a quick glance down the hall, he leaned in closer to whisper with a wink, "But don't tell her I said that."

"Not a word," Hermione promised with a smile.

With that, Danny just turned around and walked off, leaving Hermione standing in the hall for a moment staring after him until he had descended the stairs, out of sight. Still feeling a bit of disbelief in the conversation she just had and whom she had it with, Hermione then turned the other way to join the girl who (according to Danny) could possibly have become her new friend.

**_Note: If you catch any grammatical or spelling errors, please restrain from putting them in the reviews and send them to me through a PM instead._**

**_I know this chapter's short, considering how long you guys had to wait for it. This just seemed like a reasonable spot to end it. Otherwise, things started to get a bit jumbled up randomly without any real connecting theme. I'll probably make some changes to this one later, like adding in one more scene. As well as making a few edits in the descriptions. I did kind of rush this one so I could complete it before New Years._**

**_But the news I think you'll be happiest to hear is, I've already started writing the next chapter. Don't know when it will be done, but I'll try to finish and post it before school starts up for me again a week into January. _**

**_Anyway, what did you think of THIS chapter? I had only recently thought of that last conversation taking place between Danny and Hermione. I felt it would be a nice touch, but wasn't sure how you guys would react. And what about the teasing about the autograph? Do you think it was a bit much or did you think it funny? Please send me your reviews on what you think._**

**_Happy New Year everyone and hope you enjoyed the chapter and the story thus far. ^_^ _**


	9. The Fenton Mystery

_**Well, here's another one for you. And within a more decent time-frame too. Hope you enjoy it.**_

_**Disclaimer:**__** Danny Phantom was created by Butch Hartman and the Harry Potter books are by JK Rowling. I own nothing, save the design of the older Danielle you can find on my Deviantart page.**_

**Chapter 9: The Fenton Mystery**

Over the next few days, the mood in the whole house at Grimmauld Place had lifted. Everyone was immensely happy that Harry would be allowed to attend Hogwarts again in less than a week. Although, no one had yet informed him or the Weasley children that Danielle would also be attending: Danielle had been too afraid that such news would dampen their spirits all over again.

With what Hermione had been informed of regarding the Fentons however, Danielle noticed no change in behavior had taken place towards herself or Danny: Simply that Hermione was now being less nervous when around them. From this observation, Danielle could safely assume that Hermione had been keeping her word thus far about not telling anyone about the nature of their powers. In fact, Hermione had become much more interactive with Danielle in general since that conversation in Hermione's bedroom had taken place. Danielle found herself often going to the teenage witch for understanding of passages she came across in the books she was being lent. Hermione hardly hesitated in helping her out. It was no wonder she was the first to catch onto Danielle being connected to Danny Phantom. Aside from her being muggle-born, Hermione was quite the fountain of information.

When Mrs. Weasley wasn't having them cleaning the house, Danielle spent most of her time in her room, reading whatever books Hermione recommended. She had finished _Hogwarts-a-History_ in about a day and had moved on to _A History of Magic_, by Bathilda Bagshot, and _Magical Theory_, by Adalbert Waffling. The reading was nothing like anything Danielle had ever found in her many ventures to the Library of Congress before joining the Fenton family. She may not have done as well in school as Jazz ever did, but Sam and Tucker had teased Danny more than once about her grade-point-average being higher than his. Danielle had always been fascinated with learning and the Magical World was something entirely new and different. How could she resist?

However, as enticing as the reading had become for Danielle, she still knew that there was no possible way she was going to be able to catch up on all of the reading she would need before the start of term. By the time she had started reading up on _Magical Draughts and Potions_ by Arsenius Jigger, she had only started on the books that directly related to the subjects she'd be taking at Hogwarts.

What made the reading even slower was that one afternoon, Mrs. Weasley entered Danielle's bedroom, poking her head through the door. Danielle and Hermione were sitting on the floor looking at a particular chapter in _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_,which lay open in front of them.

"Pardon me, girls," said Mrs. Weasley politely. "Danielle, dear, Dumbledore is here to see you."

"What?" Danielle's head instantly shot up from the picture of a plant she never dreamt existed that Hermione had directed her to in the book. "You sure it's not the _other_ Danny he wants?"

"That's what _I_ asked him," Mrs. Weasley replied confidently. "But no, he asked specifically for you, Danielle, saying the full name included."

Danielle groaned, rolling over and sprawling on her back across the floor. Why could Dumbledore never at least give her a warning before coming to see either her or Danny at such random times of the day?

"Am I going somewhere?" Danielle asked.

"He said he wants to get you Sorted before the start of term," replied Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh!" Hermione said suddenly, making Danielle look in her direction. "I completely forgot about that!"

Danielle felt she was just getting more and more lost. "Wait, what do you mean by _sorted_?" she asked, looking between both Hermione and Mrs. Weasley.

"It just determines what house you'll be in while at Hogwarts," Hermione smiled, starting to look excited.

"Which means…?" Danielle prodded.

"You'll miss your Portkey, dear. Dumbledore is waiting," Mrs. Weasley reminded.

Danielle groaned up at the ceiling at her question still remaining unanswered before she pulled herself to her knees. "Okay, okay, I'm coming."

Satisfied to see her moving Mrs. Weasley left the room, leaving the door open as if expecting Danielle to go through it in a moment.

Danielle was on her feet now, but she looked at Hermione with a bit of concern.

"You'll find out," said Hermione, gesturing that Danielle should hurry. Then she added in an excited whisper, "Good luck."

Hermione's enthusiasm helped Danielle to feel a little less nervous, but she did have to wonder what was meant by 'sorted'; or 'portkey' for that matter. With a sigh, supposing that she better just get it over with, Danielle turned invisible.

Hermione jumped at Danielle's sudden disappearance.

"Still not quite use to that," said Hermione in one exhale. Although she was still grinning as Danielle sank through the floor.

Within seconds, Danielle had made it to the front doorstep, completely unnoticed by anyone else in the house. Dumbledore stood waiting just at the foot of the steps.

"You wanted to see me, professor?" said Danielle, after making herself solid and visible again.

"Take a hold, Miss Fenton," said Dumbledore, taking out what appeared to be a very old and tattered beret. Danielle thought Tucker would probably whimper at the sight of it.

Danielle descended the front steps, giving the old hat a quizzical look. "You gonna tell me why?" she asked slowly

"In a moment," Dumbledore said hurriedly. "I simply ask that you be prepared for a strange sensation."

"Like…?" Danielle inquired as she rested her hand on the old beret. Danielle didn't receive any other warning before Dumbledore began counting down, "three…two…one…" and she realized what he had meant by 'strange sensation'. No sooner had Dumbledore reached zero than she felt a powerful jerk that practically yanked her off the ground she was standing on and her hand felt like it had become solidly stuck to the fabric of the worn out beret.

Danny was watching from a window on the third floor of Number Twelve as the Hogwarts headmaster and his cousin vanished into thin air.

_Why does he never warn me when he's on his way to drag one of us off?_ Danny thought to himself, staring at the spot where his cousin had disappeared with Dumbledore. He had a feeling he now understood how Danielle had felt when Danny had left with the same wizard for some unknown business without telling her.

Mrs. Weasley had come to find Danny soon after informing Danielle that Dumbledore was here for her. It still was not nearly enough time for Danny to ask what they would be doing or how long they'd be gone: Well, at least in this case, he was able to actually see when they left.

What left Danny the most confused was that he and Danielle had decided that using the door from now on to get in and out of the house was the best idea. So why did Danielle use her own ghost powers for it just now: Perhaps to spite him for his own disappearance? Upon another thought, Danny signed, thinking perhaps she still hadn't told any of the other magical children that she was going to Hogwarts.

Supposing Danny would get the whole story later, he strode back over to the bedroom where he and Harry were now cleaning together. Harry was assigned to clearing out a desk while Danny was doing the same with a cupboard. (Had the Fentons not done their intangible trick to the whole house, getting rid of the mold and dust, the work would have been far more tedious.)

Harry didn't ask what Mrs. Weasley wanted by the time Danny had rejoined him in that bedroom. He had his mind on other things.

Ever since word had gotten out that Danny was now a member of the Order, many of the other children still couldn't let go of why or how Dumbledore could possibly have been driven to recruit him. Ron had already been complaining about it to Harry while Mrs. Weasley wasn't around. Harry found he himself didn't mind so much about Danny being in the Order. Not as much as finding it unfair that Danielle seemed to have still escaped the Ministry's notice in using underage magic when he himself was nearly convicted for it. What was up with these two and the magic they used?

Harry carefully eyed Danny as he crumpled up some old parchment Sirius didn't care for from the desk drawer. After throwing it in the rubbish bag placed in the center of the room, Harry began to feel that he should at least say something. He suspected that Mrs. Weasley had set him and Danny to the same room to give them a chance to get to know each other, but Danny didn't seem to mind the prolonged silence. He was simply staying busy in removing the strange objects from amongst a few dead parasites; the likes of which, neither had ever seen. Bearing this in mind, Harry thought that perhaps he had better be the one to start any conversation, even if just to stop the awkward silence between them.

"So, er…Danny," Harry began ineptly.

Danny looked nearly startled at being addressed. Harry feared this sort of reaction, especially since (now that he thought about it) neither had really spoken directly to each other since the day they met.

Harry's mind suddenly went blank as to what he should say to Danny next, now that he had his attention. Thankfully, he was saved the trouble of thinking of anything to say when Danny sighed, looking mildly bored.

"You gonna hold a grudge against me for being in the Order now too?" said Danny.

This took Harry by surprise. "Er…No, I just…Well, I can't help but be curious," he confessed, deciding to just go with it. "You…never really say much."

"You guys are always too busy whispering behind my back to want to just ask me directly," Danny pointed out, giving Harry a knowing look.

This stung Harry a bit. He hadn't planned on being ridiculed in trying to just start a conversation. Though, he still couldn't deny that he had been among the ones talking about either of the Fentons when he _thought_ they were out of earshot.

"Would you tell us if we did?" Harry asked in his defense.

"That depends on your reaction," said Danny with a hard look, using a bit of parchment to sweep some dried-out insects into a dustbin. "And how well you'd be willing to listen _afterwards_."

Harry could tell that this conversation was not going in the direction he would have hoped.

"Well, could we start with you telling me what you and your cousin were doing in Britain in the first place?" Harry asked, thinking of no other way to just keep from having any awkward silences.

Danny looked up again. This time, the expression he gave Harry was merely puzzled.

"I mean — you're from America, right?" Harry asked trying his best to just sound conversational. "It's not exactly just around the corner from here. Have you got family in Britain or something?"

Danny looked at Harry a bit suspiciously, as though wondering if there was a more devious reason behind asking this question. Then to Harry's relief, Danny set the dustbin down and returned to the cupboard shelves.

"No. The rest of our family is back in the States," said Danny.

"What brought you overseas then?"

"I took a job. A bit of a…temporary commission. And I brought Dani along as an assistant. We finished the job early and figured—well actually _Dani_ did, and I quote…" Danny took on a high-pitched voice and clapped his hands on his cheeks in an excited, girly impersonation, "'_Oh my gosh! We're in London!_'" Harry couldn't help but laugh at least a little before Danny returned to his own personality to continue, "So, we decided to stick around for a bit and explore. Then we ran into you in Little Whinging and the rest is history."

"Do you and your cousin always take jobs from across the world?" Harry asked, watching Danny as he was bending down to get at the underside of the cupboard.

"Worth it when the client pays for the transportation and housing," Danny smiled with a shrug. "Gives you more opportunities to see great places, explore different cultures, discover new possibilities: You can't tell me you've never wanted to do the same thing in some point of your life."

Harry scoffed, seeing the point in this. He supposed everyone wished to go to some new place at one time or another. Then again, in growing up with the Dursleys, there were a lot of places he, Harry, wished he'd rather have been than with them.

"The life of a human being seems so short sometimes," Danny said quietly as if more thinking out load to himself. "There's just so much to learn about the world we're born in, but so little time to find out everything we want to about it. Makes you feel so small, sometimes." Danny paused as if to think on this insight for a little bit before he sighed dismissively. "Still, makes life pretty interesting. No two lives are lived the same."

"You and your cousin seem to want to disprove that," Harry commented with a scoff. "You two may not be twins like Fred and George, but sometimes I can't help thinking you're actually the same person."

Danny snorted. _If only he knew how ironic that was_.

"We have fun with it," Danny said with a grin.

"I noticed," Harry smiled, thinking back to the time they had met when the Fentons kept confusing all of them, just with the fact that their nicknames sounding exactly the same.

Danny laid on his back to get at a particularly hard-to-reach crevice on the underside of the cupboard. There was something slimy and moving stuck there that Danny would rather not touch with his hands.

"Still," said Danny as he reached to get the spare bit of parchment he had been using previously and found something long and pointed he could utilize. "Dani and I may have been living in the same house for a year now, but that doesn't mean we have the same past: Far from it, in fact."

"You two live together back home?" said Harry with interest.

"That's where Dani's been going to school," Danny explained, paying more attention to the glob he was secretly freezing solid than the conversation with Harry. "And my parents have a great facility in training for…" he paused, realizing what he was about to say before thinking of a way to revise it. "…Well…our type of magic."

Harry exhaled. "And I'm betting you _still_ won't be getting any more specific than that about 'your sort of magic'?"

"Nope," Danny said bluntly as he surreptitiously poked the now frozen goop with the pointed stick and a touch of intangibility. This made the goop fall easily from the wood and into the parchment he held underneath it.

Harry moaned up at the ceiling, not realizing anything that was happening out of sight under the cupboard. "Can I at least ask why?"

Danny wrapped the frozen goop in the parchment he had caught it in, hoping Harry wouldn't ask what it was, (which he thankfully didn't) and sat up to toss it into the dustbin. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me," Harry challenged, sitting on the floor to be level with Danny and folding his arms.

"No, trust me," Danny laughed, looking at Harry directly. "Long story; hard to explain. We have a hard time wrapping our _own_ minds around it sometimes."

Harry wondered how this could be, but sighed in defeat, knowing he was unlikely ever going to get anything else out of the Fenton kid about it at this point. "Fair enough."

Silence fell between the two boys for a moment as they resumed their work. Danny had turned to a kneeling position to examine the side of the cupboard now when another question arose in Harry's mind.

"What about _Danielle's_ parents?" He asked curiously. Harry didn't notice how Danny suddenly froze. "They just let her follow you around, even if it's to a different country?"

"Uh…well…" Danny stuttered.

Harry still wasn't paying attention as he continued to ask, "Do both your families share a house, or do they live somewhere else or…"

Danny lowered his hands down to his lap, his face turning downward in solemn. That's when Harry finally noticed Danny's countenance and realized he was really taking his time to answer any of these questions. Suddenly, it hit Harry as to why he could be hesitating so much.

"Or…does she…_have_ parents?" He finally asked in slow realization.

Danny was quiet for a long moment, looking as though he wasn't sure how to answer the question, or even whether or not he should. After a moment, Danny exhaled, seeming to try to take on a happier disposition.

"Well…she does _now_. Since _my_ parents took her in." He said evasively, concentrating on his hands more than the work they were really doing on the wood in front of him.

Harry stared at Danny. "So you mean…her parents are dead?"

"They…" Danny didn't get any further before just letting out a heavy sigh.

Harry could hardly believe it. With being famous throughout the entire Wizarding World, everyone already knew he himself had grown up without his parents. He never had to explain anything about his past to anyone. Harry felt a twinge of guilt rise in the pit of his stomach. This whole time, in being so busy thinking of how enigmatic the Fentons were, he never even considered the idea that either of them could even remotely be in the same situation as he was.

"What happened?" Harry asked with pity.

Danny didn't answer right away. Even when he did, he struggled. "It's — it's complicated."

It was now Harry's turn to sigh heavily. _It's complicated_ had become the Fentons' signature phrase when they didn't want to discuss a topic about themselves. This time, however, instead of being frustrated by the lack of information, Harry felt he understood why Danny was holding so much back this time.

Suddenly Danny's expression hardened and he turned sharply, pointing a somewhat threatening finger at Harry, "And you'd be doing her a favor by not trying to ask _her_ about it!"

"Alright, alright!" Harry was taken aback by this sudden harsh and almost accusatory tone. He had to take a moment to recover his thoughts and his voice before he could speak again.

"But…can't _you_ tell me then if I promised not to tell anyone else?" he asked a bit hesitantly.

Danny rolled his eyes, but at least his tone had calmed. "Harry, have you ever been asked to keep a secret of someone else's; Nothing necessarily bad for anyone else to know, but still personal?"

Harry opened his mouth to speak when he stopped, remembering that there was indeed a time like this. Just last year, he had found out about a fellow Gryffindor's parents; how they had been tortured to the point of insanity. Neville Longbottom didn't even know that Harry knew, but Dumbledore made him promise he wouldn't tell.

Harry sighed in understanding. "Yeah…. Yeah. I have." He admitted with a slow nod.

"And have _you_ told anyone?" Danny pressed.

"No."

"Not even someone you trust?"

"No."

"And why do _you_ keep it?"

Harry shrugged. "It's not mine to tell."

"Then you understand why _I_ can't tell _you,_" Danny concluded.

Harry nodded slowly. "Right…. I get it."

"Thanks," Danny said gratefully before he turned back to his work on the cupboard. "She'd have my head if she found out I said anything."

Harry scoffed, shaking his head. "She's younger and yet you let her walk all over you like that?"

"Well, she's always denying she could bypass me one day," Danny then raised an eyebrow with a smile, adding, "Though, oddly enough, she still likes reminding me that she's tougher than she looks."

Harry felt relieved that the conversation had lightened up a bit. "So you're always teasing each other like that?" He asked as casually as possible, seating himself on the bed in the middle of the room.

"Pretty much. Must come with living in the same house."

Harry leaned back on the bed, using his hands to support himself from behind him with an observing look at Danny. "You know, I'm not sure the two of you would need to look so much alike to make me think you were brother and sister," he said analytically.

Danny glanced at Harry before looking down at the floor as though he had never thought of this before. After a moment, he scoffed. "I have an older sister back home that's always on my case, trying to tell me off when she thinks I'm doing something stupid or reckless; sometimes more than my own mother."

Harry smiled, imagining this and thinking of how Hermione would sometimes do the same thing with either himself or Ron.

"I guess…" Danny said reflectively. "Ever since Dani started living with us, I've started to get a sense of how that feels."

Silence fell once again; only it was far less awkward now. Harry stared at Danny as he watched him get back to work for a bit. There were so many mysteries still surrounding the boy in front of him and his cousin that he was wishing to find out. Further, it wasn't just their magic that seemed to be a topic they preferred to avoid. Danielle in particular seemed to have a very troublesome past.

How long had it been since Danielle had lost her parents? Danny said that she had been living with his family for a year. Was it then? In what way did she lose her parents? That, Danny never specified. However, if such a topic was so sensitive to Danielle that her cousin felt the need to threaten Harry about it, perhaps it was best to wait until she herself was ready to tell: Assuming that day would ever come while they were still in Britain.

Regardless, Harry found himself becoming more and more intrigued by the Fentons. Not only in all the mystery behind the two of them, but also in the relationship they seemed to share. Harry may not have known a lot about the Fentons' intentions or why Dumbledore trusted them enough for the oldest one to be a part of the Order, but it was quite clear to him now that those two cousins truly cared for each other. The mixing up of nicknames; the constant banter…Harry still couldn't forget the concerned look on Danny's face when he saw what looked like blood on Danielle's hand and thought she was hurt. Nor had he easily forgotten the way he stood by her as she was standing up to Sirius. The two Fentons were peculiar, yes, but Hermione and Mrs. Weasley were right. With a bond like that, they couldn't possibly be all bad.

As Harry kept pondering these thoughts throughout the rest of the day, he couldn't fight off the feeling that he might actually be jealous of Danielle. Not only did she seem to have a cousin she had such fun with, but Danny was a cousin that supported her in so many ways. Not that Harry would ever want that kind of relationship with Dudley, of all people, but he also couldn't help wondering how much better growing up with the Dursleys would have been if he had a cousin like that.

00000

Danielle was used to being the one going at a super-fast speed, not the one being pulled along by whatever was going super-fast. That was what using the portkey felt like to her. By the time they had landed at their destination however, she found she didn't mind so much. The sight she took in was already interesting enough to make her completely forget the discomforting sensation.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, Danielle Fenton," Dumbledore said happily when he saw that Danielle was already taking in her new surroundings. "Specifically, the headmaster's office."

After taking in the vastness of the circular room with the wide variety of gadgets set on several tables, Danielle began to realize, "Wait. Are we in a castle?"

As soon as she saw the nearest window, Danielle rushed to it. In looking through the glass, she could see stone walls on either side with several turrets overlooking a lake that led to a forest which stretched beyond her sight.

"Hogwarts is in a _castle_?" Danielle repeated, spinning to look back at Dumbledore with her mouth hanging open.

Dumbledore smiled proudly. "And a beautiful one if I do say so myself."

Danielle let out a delighted laugh. "I get to live in a _castle_ for the next year? Ha ha! Oh man, Danny is _so_ gonna flip when he hears about this!"

Taking another look around the room, Danielle saw the giant telescope for the first time that was located up a small flight of stairs. Along the walls above the many shelves were several portraits (the fact that they were moving was still something about the Wizarding World Danielle had yet to get used to) of elderly looking people, snoring. Names were inscribed on little golden panels on the bottom of each portrait indicating that they had been previous headmasters of Hogwarts. The observation of so many of them made Danielle wonder how long this school had been around: and without anyone from the outside world noticing no less.

As Danielle made a full turn in the middle of the room, taking in the marvel of the headmaster's office, she began to wonder what the rest of the castle must be like. Danielle beamed as the very thought occurred. Oh, she was going to have fun exploring _this_ place if just this room had such splendor.

Danielle nearly gasped in awe when she noticed what was sitting on a perch next to Dumbledore's desk: A large crimson bird the size of a swan with glittering golden tail feathers as long as a peacock's. Danielle couldn't help staring at the bird's magnificent feathers, wondering how on earth it wasn't the first thing she had noticed in the room.

"Is — Is that a phoenix?" Danielle stammered as she took a stunned step toward the bird. She had come across phoenixes in her reading from one of Hermione's books, but the picture (even if a moving one) simply did not do it justice compared to the real thing.

"Hm? Why yes," said Dumbledore after noticing what Danielle was so entranced by. "This here, is my good friend Fawkes."

Fawkes ruffled his feathers, staring, as if inspecting Danielle, with its beady black eyes.

"Can I…?" Danielle asked Dumbledore, slowly reaching out a hand as she steadily approached the phoenix.

"If he allows," Dumbledore smiled.

Danielle suddenly became aware of the gleaming golden talons and sharp golden beak. Other than that, however, Fawkes didn't seem to be looking very threatening as Danielle cautiously reached her hand further towards him. In fact, the phoenix seemed to be lowering its head as if wanting Danielle to stroke it. Danielle paused only for a moment before she stretched her hand the rest of the way. Once she made contact with the glossy feathers on the top of Fawkes' head, they felt like silk beneath her fingers as she gently ran her hand over them. Fawkes cooed satisfactorily and Dumbledore smiled his own approval.

Danielle was so intrigued by the phoenix and the fact that she was actually physically touching one that she hadn't even noticed a knock on the office door.

"Come in," Dumbledore called.

Danielle turned in time to see the door open. A robed, elderly woman with graying hair in a tight bun entered. Danielle thought she remembered seeing her back at Grimmauld Place a few times.

"I have your request, Albus," said the wrinkled witch, pulling out what appeared to be a wand and presenting it to Dumbledore.

"Ah," Dumbledore took it happily, examining it at eye-level. After a moment of this inspection, he gave a satisfied nod, smiling at the woman. "Thank you very much, Minerva."

After Minerva nodded back, she seemed to notice Danielle for the first time.

"I see someone's made a new friend," she commented, seeing Fawkes give Danielle a friendly nip on the ear. Danielle gave a nervous smirk as she gave Fawkes another pat on the head.

"I believe you have been informed of the young miss Danielle Fenton," Dumbledore told the witch, indicating Danielle and gesturing her over to them.

"Indeed I have," the witch replied, looking Danielle up and down with an inspecting look. "Though I don't believe we've been properly introduced."

Danielle shuffled her foot in the floor, getting a subtle hint that the witch didn't much approve of the way Danielle's bangs hung in front of her face.

"Miss Fenton," announced Dumbledore, now addressing Danielle. "May I present Professor Minerva McGonagall; Deputy headmistress, head of Gryffindor house, and Transfigurations teacher here at Hogwarts: as well as a fellow member of the Order of the Phoenix," he said the last part a bit more quietly.

After hearing the long list describing Professor McGonagall, Danielle wanted to say something like "wow, bet _you're_ kept pretty busy". In noting the kind of expression that Danielle read as 'intolerable of nonsense' surrounding the elderly witch, however, Danielle thought better of it.

Professor McGonagall held out a long, bony hand. After only a slight hesitation, Danielle took it to shake. The old professor's grip was much firmer than she expected.

"Pleased to meet you, ma'am," said Danielle with a bit of a smile.

McGonagall smiled, indicating the feeling was mutual.

"Another thing Professor McGonagall should be noted for is making you _this_," said Dumbledore, now presenting the wand McGonagall had given him to Danielle.

Danielle looked between the headmaster and the wand before slowly taking it. As she gripped the handle, no special feeling came to her the way she remembered when testing with Dumbledore's wand.

"I thought it best you didn't go to Ollivander's for one," explained Dumbledore. "While you do have very intriguing powers, I doubt any wand in the all the Wizarding World would agree, let alone properly work for you and leave people suspicious of your origins." Danielle bit her lower lip seeing the point in this before the headmaster went on. "_This_ wand" — He nodded towards the wand in Danielle's hand — "won't cast you any spells, as it is simply transfigured wood and has no magical core."

Now Danielle understood why there was no sudden rush as she held this wand. It was merely part of the disguise she would have to wear while attending Hogwarts.

"However, if nothing else, no one will be able to turn it against you, should you lose it somehow," Dumbledore smiled, conclusively.

"I guess so," Danielle shrugged uncertainly, staring at the wand she rotated in her hands. "I am still a bit nervous about this whole thing, though." As she stowed the wand away in her hooded shirt pocket, she added with a mutter, "Never been a secret agent before."

"I'm sure you'll do splendidly either way," Dumbledore then turned to Professor McGonagall. "Where are the other heads of house?

"They should be here soon, headmaster."

No sooner than she finished saying this did another knock on the door occur and it opened. To Danielle's displeasure, in came the greasy-haired, hook-nosed Severus Snape. He was followed closely behind by a very tiny, yet spirited, wizard who was then followed by a dumpy little witch with a patched hat over her flyaway hair. Once Snape had laid eyes on Danielle, his face turned into a sneer while the other two smiled curiously at her. There was no argument on whose reaction Danielle liked the very least.

"Ah, excellent, excellent," said Dumbledore enthusiastically motioning the newcomers to approach. Once all five of the adults had gathered around the desk, he spoke as if to a grand audience, saying, "Thank you all for coming down on such short notice. I understand you must still have preparations to make before the start of term. However, as the heads of houses, I felt your presence was necessary for the admittance of a foreign exchange student." He then turned to Danielle, putting a hand on her shoulder and gently steering her to stand in front of him. "Professors. This delightful young lady is the previously mentioned, Danielle Fenton, who will be visiting us from the United States this year."

The short witch and wizard let out an interested "Ooooh" as Danielle smiled sheepishly, waving her fingers.

"Miss Fenton, these are a few more of the professors here at Hogwarts," Dumbledore continued. "You've met Professor Snape, our potions master and head of Slytherin house—"

"Hi," Danielle greeted bluntly.

Snape simply looked down his nose at her the way she remembered him doing when he disapproved of Danny.

Dumbledore went on, oblivious of this previous exchange. "Professor Sprout of Hufflepuff teaches Herbology; both of which I believe you will be taking classes from this year," — The short witch nodded with a pleasant smile that Danielle felt far better by — "And this is Professor Flitwick, head of Ravenclaw house and professor of Charms."

"How do you do, young lady?" the delighted little wizard asked, actually taking the time to approach and shake Danielle's hand.

"I'm okay, thanks," Danielle replied as politely as possible.

Once Professor Flitwick had fallen back in line with the other teachers, Dumbledore continued. "With Danielle attending Hogwarts as a fifth year, I felt it would be best to sort her early; separate from the first years." After the other professors nodded in agreement, (Snape merely cocked his head to the side) Dumbledore looked down at Danielle to address her.

"Now, Miss Fenton, normally it is custom for fifth years at Hogwarts to take the Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations before the start of the summer holidays.

Danielle had been ready to ask what the 'Sorting' was all about, but couldn't help nervously asking instead, "What's that?"

"It's a test that determines your career path," Dumbledore explained. "However, I suspect you don't intend to stay for long enough to want to get any full-time job here in England and I'm sure there are other tests at your own school that better suit your interests."

Danielle was about to comment that that was about right, but held it back in fear of being rude.

"So, disregarding the year you'll be admitted to Hogwarts, as a newcomer to our curriculum, how do you feel about not taking these exams at all?"

Danielle raised her eyebrows, looking down at the floor in thought. "I'm okay with that idea."

"If I may say so, Headmaster," Snape interjected rather callously. "Even if this girl insists on not taking the O.W.L.s like all other fifth years, I myself have no intention of shortening my list of expectations." His cold eyes then shifted towards Danielle who stood determinedly where she was. "She will be receiving any and all assignments I give to any other fifth year attending my class, and I'd expect her to equally fulfill them as anyone else."

He continued to stare down Danielle who simply smirked as if accepting a challenge.

"I think I agree with Severus, headmaster," said Professor Sprout, having not noticed anything going on between Danielle and Snape. "We can't possibly require her to take the O.W.L. exams, but she should still be expected to do the same amount of work as all other students."

Dumbledore looked expectantly at Danielle as if asking her opinion on this. After a short glance up at the headmaster, Danielle shrugged. "Fair enough, I guess."

Dumbledore nodded before he turned back to the other professors. "It may satisfy you to know that Danielle has already been doing her best in studying up on the subjects she'll be taking here. I'm sure she'll not disappoint those whose classes she will be registered for."

Snape piqued a skeptical eyebrow at this while the other professors nodded, muttering satisfied remarks.

"Well, then." Dumbledore announced, clapping his hands together. "With that settled, I think it's about time to get the Sorting done."

With that, he pulled out his wand, pointing it towards the far wall. Something from one of the shelves set there suddenly flew from it and into Dumbledore's hand. Upon a second look, Danielle noticed it was an ancient, dirty and very worn-out looking hat. It looked even older than the beret that was used as the Portkey to get to this office.

As Dumbledore held the hat in his hand, using his other hand to wave his wand and conjure up a stool, Danielle thought she saw the hat moving. Come to think of it, the wrinkles on the front looked to resemble a face: A very wrinkled face: One that was looking directly at her, as if curious.

Danielle realized she was staring at the hat as Dumbledore was giving it to Professor McGonagall.

"Wait. So…what's going on…exactly?" Danielle asked, looking around with a very confused expression.

"Upon admittance to Hogwarts, students are Sorted into one of the four houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin," McGonagall explained. "Throughout the year, points are given to students of each house, depending upon their performance. The house with the most points by the end of the year wins the house cup." Danielle nodded in understanding. "By placing the Sorting Hat on your head," — McGonagall indicated the tattered old hat — "we will find out which house you'll be in while here at Hogwarts."

"How does the _hat_ know?" Danielle didn't mean it to sound rude. She just was curious.

"It reads your mind, determines qualities and therefore which house you are best suited for."

This, Danielle wasn't expecting. "It…reads your mind?" she said nervously.

Professor Flitwick chuckled. "It's nothing to be concerned about, Miss Fenton. The Hat hardly talks except to sing and sort." _Sing?_ Danielle thought perplexed before Flitwick went on. "It has decency enough not to tell anyone of anything personal the student may hold. It's simply the process in which we find where you would do best."

"Um…Okay." But Danielle wasn't so sure it was. She was very glad that she didn't have to do this in front of the whole school (the poor first years) but still wasn't sure about putting on a mind-reading hat in the presence of five adults she hardly knew.

"If you're ready, Miss Fenton, take a seat," said Dumbledore, indicating the stool he had conjured earlier.

Nope. Not ready at all. Though, Danielle forced herself to slowly take the indicated seat anyway. The thought of Hermione's excitement in finding out she was going to be Sorted did manage to make her slightly more at ease.

"Professor McGonagall, if you please," Dumbledore gestured towards Danielle, who stiffly gripped the edges of the stool.

The other professors watched with anticipation as Professor McGonagall placed the hat on Danielle's head in a well-practiced motion of her wrist. The hat was so oversized, it slipped down over Danielle's eyes.

"Hmm…. Ah. I see…" said a small voice in Danielle's ear that nearly startled her. She felt it was still quiet enough that no one else could hear it though, despite the room being so still. "Yes. What a very interesting mind, this one. Not a witch, eh…" — Danielle didn't hear anyone gasp or otherwise protest in surprise, so she assumed the professors hadn't heard this little fact — "Oh, and yet there are powers you possess that no one has ever seen: Never in the recorded history of the entire Wizarding world. At the same time, you're in no hurry to boast of your power. Yes. Quite courageous in the face of mortal danger, which you've seen plenty of, I see. Yet shy when it comes to interaction with others who are much friendlier."

_Hey! I'm working on it, all right? _Danielle thought defensively.

"Yes, despite the lack of social skills, you seem not to fancy being taken lightly," the hat continued thoughtfully. "And indeed you have a right to be bold with talents such as yours. Ooh and quite the study when you want to be. Hmmm. And there's a slight touch of deviousness within this otherwise tactical mind."

_No! _Danielle protested in her head, shutting her eyes tight in thinking of Vlad._ I'm not—like— _him_._

"Oh, yes. Determined to prove your worth in a continued fight for all things good. A noble effort burying what seems to be a troublesome and very painful past."

Danielle sighed inwardly._ With the things I've done, how else can I make up for it?_

"Loyalty to the end. Especially to those you consider closest. Very compassionate. My my, so many good qualities. You're a difficult one to place indeed."

_I can't draw any more attention to myself. People are acting weird around me as it is._

"Just wanting to blend in, eh? Well, if keeping up appearances is what's truly the main concern, perhaps you are best in…HUFFLEPUFF!"

00000

Danielle's request to get a full tour of the castle after her Sorting had been denied by Dumbledore, who had said he wouldn't want to spoil any surprises.

By the time Dumbledore had returned Danielle to Grimmauld Place by Portkey, no one else (except Danny of course) even knew she had left the house. Let alone with their headmaster to be Sorted to go to their school.

_They'll find out eventually if you don't tell them soon._ Danny had told her telepathically from a completely separate room in the house almost as soon as she had returned.

Danielle sighed, but paid little heed to her cousin's advice as she reappeared in Hermione's bedroom. Ginny was down in the kitchen, which had left Hermione by herself in their bedroom knitting on her bed again.

"Oh… Okay. Er…Great." Hermione said, rather crestfallen after Danielle had told her she had been placed in Hufflepuff.

"You're not really sounding like it is," Danielle said concerned.

"Oh no, it's not like that, really," Hermione said honestly. "I was just…well…I just hoped you'd be in Gryffindor, that's all. That's the house I'm in."

"Ah," Danielle nodded in understanding.

"You're dormitory will be in a different part of the castle. It'll be harder for us to get together to talk if you had any more questions; especially if after curfew. I'm not sure I even know where the Hufflepuff Common Room is."

Danielle shrugged and sat herself on the bed. "Well, being a ghost has its advantages as far as getting around. I'm sure I'll be able to manage if I need to find you for something."

"True. And I suppose you being in a different house also means Harry and Ron won't be able to dig into your secrets as much."

"That's true too."

With that, Hermione took a deep breath. "Well then," she said, pulling out _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_. "Shall we get back to it?"

00000

On the very last day of the holidays, Ron entered his and Harry's bedroom where Harry laid on his bed, not even listening to Hermione prattling on about elf rights. Ron carried what seemed to be a whole stack of mail that consisted of a very large and heavy-looking package and several envelopes.

"Book lists have arrived," said Ron, setting the mail on his bed. His mattress sagged with a creak under the weight of the package alone. "About time. Thought they'd forgotten. They usually arrive much earlier than this…" He sifted through the envelopes, giving Harry and Hermione each their designated letters.

Harry opened his letter: It contained two pieces of parchment, one the usual reminder that term started on the first of September, the other telling him which books he would need for the coming year.

"Only two new ones," he said, reading the list. "_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5_, by Miranda Gashawk and _Defensive Magical Theory_, by Wilbert Slinkhard."

"Oh, good, I was right," said Hermione, sounding relieved.

Before Harry could ask what about, Fred and George Apperated right beside him with a _crack_. He was so used to them doing this by now he hardly even flinched.

"We were just wondering who assigned the Slinkhard book," said Fred conversationally.

"Because it means Dumbledore's found a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," said George.

"And about time too," said Fred.

"What d'you mean?" Harry asked.

"Well, we overheard Mum and Dad talking on the Extendable Ears a few weeks back," Fred told Harry, "and from what they were saying, Dumbledore was having real trouble finding anyone to do the job this year."

"Not surprising, is it, when you look at what's happened to the last four?" said George.

"One sacked, one dead, one's memory removed, and one locked in a trunk for nine months," said Harry, counting them off on his fingers. "Yeah, I see what you mean."

"Fred? — George? Is this another one of your jokes?" asked Ron, sounding dumbfounded.

Harry looked around, finding Ron was looking at one of the envelopes he had yet to deliver with a disbelieving look.

"_What_ is?" said Fred and George in unison?

Ron practically shoved the envelope in their faces before Fred took it to get a proper look. George looked over his shoulder at it. Both their eyes popped.

"Not one _we_ know about," said George.

"Why don't you ask _her_?" said Fred, handing back the envelope.

"Ask who what? What's going on?" Harry asked confused, looking between the three Weasley brothers.

"This one's addressed to the Fenton girl!" Ron nearly shouted, pushing the envelope into Harry's hands.

Indeed it was. Written clearly on the front of the envelope was the name, _Danielle M. Fenton_. Hermione looked over Harry's shoulder as if to confirm. Instead of looking surprised like everyone else was, she suddenly got excited.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, taking the envelope from Harry's hands. "That parcel must be hers too."

Hermione shot passed Ron, retrieving the package from his bed. After she examined the writing on the wrapping paper, she beamed.

"Danielle!" she suddenly called, rushing to the bedroom door, carrying the heavy package.

Harry, Ron, Fred and George exchanged absolutely befuddled looks at what was going on as Hermione continued to call Danielle's name into the hall. It was likely that they, like Harry, had all assumed the package was Hermione's, based on the look of a stack of books from the outside.

"What, what?" Danielle said with eagerness as she hurriedly came into view of the doorway.

"You're schoolbooks have arrived," said Hermione happily, presenting Danielle with the package.

"Oh, good! I was beginning to wonder," Danielle took the package with relief. Harry was surprised that she didn't seem to mind the weight of the package nearly as much as Ron or Hermione had when either of them had carried it.

"Looks like ordering that edition of the _Standard Book of Spells_ was a good idea after all. It's on our booklists. Here. This is yours too." Hermione put the envelope addressed to Danielle on top of the package already in her hands.

"Cool. Well, looks like I better start reading then," Danielle scoffed at the oversized stack of books the package evidently contained. "I'll put _your_ books back on your bed."

"Sounds good."

Danielle turned to go back to her own room, calling back to Hermione behind her, "Thanks for the head start!"

"No problem!" Hermione called back, waving after Danielle before turning to rejoin the boys. That was before she stopped in noticing all of their jaws had dropped.

"What?" she asked innocently as if nothing at all strange had just happened.

"Never thought _you_ were into practical jokes, Hermione," said Fred in disbelief.

"What are you talking about?" said Hermione confused.

"Why is _she_ getting owl post?" said Ron, pointing almost accusingly in the direction Danielle had just walked off in. "More importantly, why is she ordering spell books?"

"Haven't you heard?" said Hermione casually. "Dumbledore's enrolled her in Hogwarts."

Harry and the Weasley boys stared wide-eyed at Hermione, which was clearly making her feel uncomfortable. This was the first time they had heard anything about Danielle being a student at the same school they were going to. Further, they had just seen Hermione talking to Danielle as if they had always been life-long friends. The older Fenton being in the Order of The Phoenix was surprising enough. Now this?

Fred was the first to break the silence, though his face was taking on a more excited expression. "The Fenton girl's coming to Hogwarts with us?"

"Huzzah!" cried George happily, shooting his fists into the air and falling backwards onto Harry's bed.

Ron on the other hand was not so happy to hear this news. "What?! _Her_?" he practically whined.

"Aw, what's the mattow, Wonnie?" said George in a mocking baby tone.

"Afwaid of a widdew guwl yow own age?" said Fred in the continued teasing.

Both of them laughed.

"No!" said Ron outraged. "It's just…she's not even a _witch_. She has—no—magic!"

"Sure she does," said Hermione shrugging. "She just uses it differently."

"And the Ministry still hasn't come on her case like they had Harry about it!"

"All the more reason she's free to attend. Don't you think?" Hermione argued, glaring at Ron. "There's no rule on what type of magic she uses or where she's from that would keep her from attending Hogwarts."

Harry wasn't sure how to take in that Danielle would be going to Hogwarts. There were still things about both of the Fenton cousins that were to be questioned. But who knows? Having one of them in the school might actually be interesting.

"Wonder what house she'll be in." Harry said thoughtfully.

Ron huffed. "If she gets Sorted into Slytherin, that's a dead giveaway she and her cousin are bad news."

"Ron!" Hermione scolded so suddenly everyone else in the room jumped. "Do you ever _think_ before opening your mouth?"

"You've seen the way they do things. And they don't even tell us how their magic works!"

"It's no reason to just jump to conclusions like that! And for your information—Ronald Weasley—she's in _Hufflepuff_!"

With that, Hermione snatched her still unopened Hogwarts letter she had set aside on the bedside table to give Danielle her mail and stormed out of the room, leaving the boys staring after her. Harry was no different. At first, he wondered how Hermione even knew which house Danielle could be Sorted into in the first place when term started tomorrow. Then he thought that perhaps it was different for a foreign exchange student. Perhaps they Sorted her early to avoid awkwardness between other students.

Before Harry could ponder any more on this, Fred broke the silence.

"_Hufflepuff_?" he said with confused disbelief.

"I would have thought for sure she'd be in Gryffindor with the rest of us," said George, disappointed.

"With how clever she clearly is, I'm surprised the Sorting Hat didn't at least put in Ravenclaw," Fred commented in thought.

"Well, at least she's not in Slytherin," Harry pointed out gratefully.

"Tell me about it," said George with a shiver.

"Malfoy getting prank tips from her could be disastrous," Fred added.

"The Sorting Hat got it all wrong if you ask me," Ron mumbled with a distasteful glare, clearly still thinking that Danielle should be in Slytherin.

"But you know…" Fred looked out the door, smiling satisfactorily in the direction Danielle had walked off in with her mail. "Hufflepuff or not, I think she's gonna be all right."

Meanwhile, Danielle Phantom floated silently and invisibly in a secluded upper corner of room, and now secretly glided through the wall, back to her own bedroom. She appreciated Hermione sticking up for her when Ron was going on about her not qualifying for Hogwarts, but she wondered what all the fuss was between the different houses. It seemed that there was a bit of a deeper meaning behind which house a Hogwarts student was a part of than Danielle had actually been told. Perhaps Hermione would fill her in later if she didn't get the answers at Hogwarts tomorrow herself.

In any case, Danielle still had a lot of reading to get back to, and only one day left to finish it: Especially in now getting the proper edition of the _Standard Book of Spells_.

Danielle was only on the second page of her new book when she received a short interruption from Mrs. Weasley.

"I'm on my way to Diagon Alley to get everyone's school supplies. Where's your list?" Mrs. Weasley said, glancing around the room as if to spot it.

Danielle had wanted to go to Diagon Alley herself to look around, but in taking a look at the big stack of books she had just received, she remembered that she still had a lot of work to do. Well, there was no telling how long she'd have to be undercover. Perhaps she would get a second chance. She handed her letter to Mrs. Weasley who took out the parchment that had her list of supplies and skimmed over it.

"Oh. I suppose I'd best take your measurements then if I'll need to be getting you some robes."

"Robes?" Danielle questioned. She hadn't even looked at the supplies list. She had just opened the package of books to get to reading one of her new ones.

"Yes. All students at Hogwarts are required to wear robes," said Mrs. Weasley.

Oh, great—Uniforms. Danielle thought in a subdued manner. If that included having to wear a skirt, she would, _so,_ be making sure she at least had her dress-pants with her to wear instead. Danielle seriously doubted Dumbledore would expel her for not fully keeping to the dress code when he needed her there as a spy.

She of course didn't say this out loud to Mrs. Weasley as she was using a magical measuring tape to mark Danielle's measurements before leaving for Diagon Alley.

Aside from packing up to get ready to go to Hogwarts the following morning, Danielle spent the whole rest of that morning and afternoon reading her books and rereading the ones for the subjects she'd be taking. She felt it best to make sure she would be prepared enough to not have to refer back to the books too much. Potions was the subject she was concerned about the most, especially in knowing Snape had no intention of pulling any strings for her, except perhaps to make it more difficult.

Danielle hadn't realized how many hours had passed by the time Danny entered their bedroom, seeing schoolbooks opened and scattered all over the floor and spread across her bed. Danielle had dosed off on her copy of _Magical Draughts and Potions. _

After Danny had shaken her awake, he looked around at all the books, astonished. "Gosh, Dani, have you even left the room since getting these?"

Danielle moaned tiredly, holding her head in her hands. "I feel like my head's about to burst." She deliberately fell backward onto her pillows with _Magical Draughts and Potions_ still in her lap. "But I still have so much to study before the term starts."

Danny looked a bit concerned as he glanced around at the mess Danielle had made around her. He silently sat down on the edge of the bed. "Dani, you could probably use a break."

"I wish," Danielle sighed.

"I know I was never as studious as either you or Jazz are, but I know there's no point in wearing yourself out before school even starts. You're only going for undercover work anyway."

"But…"

"Mrs. Weasley says dinner's on," Danny suggested, giving Danielle a persuasive look.

As if in answer to a cue, Danielle's stomach growled ferociously and very audibly. Danny gave Danielle a skeptically look in clearly hearing this.

Danielle groaned, sitting up. "Okay, you win," she said, book-marking the page she was on in _Magical Draughts and Potions_. Then she closed the book and set it aside before letting Danny help her stand up from the bed. It felt strangely refreshing to be on her feet after sitting for so long. After she stretched a little, she followed Danny downstairs into the kitchen. What Danielle hadn't expected to see was a scarlet banner hanging over such a heavy-laden dinner table that read CONGRATULATIONS RON AND HERMIONE — NEW PREFECTS.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, Fred, George and Ginny had all made it downstairs by now.

"I thought we'd have a little party, not a sit-down dinner," Mrs. Weasley told them as they all were entering the kitchen. "Your father and Bill are on their way, Ron, I've sent them both owls and they're _thrilled_," she said to Ron, beaming.

Danielle caught Fred rolling his eyes.

"_What's_ going on?" Danielle whispered to Hermione, figuring she'd be able, and the most willing, to explain.

"Oh. Ron and I were made Gryffindor Prefects," Hermione explained. "It's sort of like being a hall monitor at a muggle school. We keep an eye on the other students, making sure they behave themselves and help them if they have questions, that sort of thing."

"I see," said Danielle interested. Though, her eyes then shifted in Ron's direction. "And _he_ was made one of these…prefects?"

Hermione grimaced regrettably as she followed Danielle's gaze. "Yes." Hermione said slowly. "And I can't help feeling he'll like taking advantage of it as far as _you're_ concerned. He wasn't…well…very…enthusiastic about…um…"

Danielle sighed. "Yeah… I heard." Then she turned away to find herself a place to sit down.

Looking surprised and more than a bit guilty, Hermione followed. "Hold on—so you heard him say—"

"I couldn't help it. I figured they'd work out I was going to your school if they saw me getting mail from them. I was curious how they'd react, so I…slipped back in to find out." Danielle found an empty chair alongside the wall and sat herself down.

Hermione seated herself in the chair that was next to her, looking very apologetic. "Oh, Danielle, I'm sorry…Ron can be so insensitive sometimes, I simply—"

"I don't blame him," Danielle said dismissively, leaning her chair back and putting her hands behind her head. "And anyway, I'm not that worried about it."

The two girls were silent for a moment. Danielle watched the crowd in the room become heavier as more people gathered into the kitchen. Sirius, Lupin, Tonks and Kinglsey Shakelbolt were already there and Mad-eye Moody stumped in shortly after Danny had found a spot to sit down next to Danielle.

"Oh, Alastor, I'm glad you're here," said Mrs. Weasley brightly as Mad-Eye shrugged off his traveling cloak. "We've been wanting to ask you for ages — could you have a look in the writing desk in the drawing room and tell us what's inside it? We haven't wanted to open it just in case it's something nasty."

"No problem, Molly…"

Moody's electric-blue eye swiveled upward and stared fixedly through the ceiling of the kitchen. Danielle raised an interested eyebrow as she watched him do this. She had heard that Moody's eye could see through solid objects, but it was still a different experience in actually seeing it work.

"Drawing room…" he growled as the pupil contracted. "Desk in the corner? Yeah, I see it…yeah, it's a boggart…. Want me to go up and get rid of it, Molly?"

No, no, I'll do it myself later," beamed Mrs. Weasley. "You have a drink. We're having a bit of a celebration, actually…." She gestured at the scarlet banner. "Fourth prefect in the family!" she said fondly, ruffling Ron's hair.

Ron seemed a bit embarrassed, looking in Fred and George's direction; both of whom were making gagging gestures. Danielle cracked a sly smile, thinking perhaps Ron had already been discovering that having any degree of power or authority was not all it was cracked up to be. Both Fenton cousins knew this all too well from experience.

Once everyone had seemed to gather in and had gotten themselves a goblet of their drink of choice, (Danielle thought she'd try a bit of pumpkin juice) Mr. Weasley, who had arrived only moments ago, called the room to attention.

"Well, I think a toast is in order," he said, raising his goblet. "To Ron and Hermione, the new Gryffindor prefects."

Ron and Hermione beamed as everyone drank to them and then applauded. Danielle caught tidbits of a lot of different conversations breaking out as everyone finally moved towards the table to help themselves to food. Most of which involved whether or not they themselves had been prefects while in school. Danielle thought little of it over her own starvation as she dished herself a plateful of food. Even when the conversations began to vary a little more, (She could hear a black-market deal going on with the twins and Mundungus) Danielle couldn't help but think more about the books she had left upstairs or what the following day would bring if she didn't finish them.

After a while, Mrs. Weasley yawned widely.

"Well, I think I'll sort out that boggart before turning in…. Arthur, I don't want this lot up too late, all right? Danielle, I've put your new school supplies in your room. I suggest packing it up as soon as you get the chance."

She left the kitchen, bidding Harry goodnight as she passed him. Danielle turned back to her plate when she was startled by something soft rubbing against her leg. She looked down so fast, she nearly kicked the ginger cat that she realized was at her feet.

"Oh, don't mind him, Danielle," said Hermione with a smile.

She had finished eating a while ago and had just returned from talking with Lupin about elves and werewolves. Danielle was not about to tell her that she wouldn't have minded if she had kicked the cat after all.

"Come here, Crookshanks. There's a good boy," said Hermione fondly, bending down to pick up the cat. She sat down in a chair not far from Danielle, setting Crookshanks in her lap. Crookshanks purred as Hermione stroked his fur.

Hermione looked up at Danielle as if expecting her to agree how adorable he was when her expression became confused. "What's wrong?"

Danielle hadn't realized she had been shying away, staring uncomfortably at Crookshakes as he yawned, curling up on his owner's lap.

"Sorry, it's just…" Danielle began hesitantly, not taking her gaze off of Crookshanks. "I've…never…really been much of a…cat person."

Danny, who had just come back with a second helping of chops on his plate, looked between the cat and Danielle suspiciously in realizing this exchange was taking place.

"Oh, there's nothing to fret over," Hermione said cheerfully before looking down at the cat, scratching the underside of his chin. "Isn't that right, my sweet little Crookshanks?"

Crookshanks purred satisfactorily as though in response.

"Right…" Danielle said uneasily. She turned back to her nearly finished plate, but found that she had suddenly lost the remainder of her appetite. She looked around, seeing Harry was going upstairs, thinking perhaps it was about time she did the same.

Clearing her throat, she stood up, picking up her plate. "Well, I think I'll head back to my room now. Still have to finish packing, you know. Not to mention more reading."

Danny and Hermione stared at Danielle, watching as she took her plate over to the sink. She was rather careful not to let her hand brush against Crookshanks as she passed Hermione to exit the kitchen.

Hermione stared after Danielle. She then looked down at Crookshanks before giving Danny a confused look as though not understanding how anyone could possibly have anything against her beloved Crookshanks.

Danny merely shrugged, shaking his head. "Don't take it personally, I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it," Danny reassured, trying to act as though he didn't understand Danielle's reaction to Crookshanks either. Although turning back to his plate, he felt he understood Danielle's discomfort completely.

It was not very long ago that he and Danielle had discovered that Vlad had adopted himself a cat before disappearing. Danny and his friends had thought it was absolutely hysterical at the time, but Danielle (considering her past relationship with Vlad) had taken it far more personally.

Danielle currently ascended the stairs with heavy footsteps, feeling a bit sick. What was so special about cats that they could win anyone's affection over any person? Danielle felt herself getting a bit angry. In passing the stuffed elf heads at the same time, she started feeling somewhat sad and…neglected. Danielle couldn't remember feeling this way since being in that mansion, finding the feeding bowl that Danny and his friends had laughed so hard at in discovering.

As she approached the first landing, Danielle was drawn out of her reverie in seeing Harry standing in the doorway of the drawing room. He was looking a bit dazed.

A sobbing voice suddenly came from the drawing room that Danielle recognized as Mrs. Weasley's, "No! No…_riddikulus_…_riddikulus_…_RIDDIKULUS_!"

Danielle felt her insides jump at the sound of such despair. What was happening in that room?

"Mrs. Weasly, just get out of here," Harry shouted as he continued to stare transfixed through the open door. "Let someone else—"

He was cut off by Danielle gasping, absolutely horrorstruck. As soon as she turned the corner to look passed him into the drawing room, she saw a clearly dead body of a redheaded young man she didn't recognize sprawled on the floor in the middle of the room. Mrs. Weasley was shaking with sobs, cowering against the dark wall.

"Oh my gosh! What happened?" Danielle cried out, pushing passed Harry and instinctively rushing towards the dead body.

"No—Wait, DON'T—" Harry tried to stop her.

Danielle had nearly touched the body when it suddenly changed, taking the form of a man wearing white cape. He had sleek, dark hair that came up looking like devil's horns protruding from his head.

Danielle let out a blood-curdling scream of fright, falling backwards in instantly recognizing the pale green skin and glowing red eyes. The man hovered a foot above the floor, laughing maniacally and baring his pearly white fangs.

"Vlad!" Danielle protested in utter disbelief. "But…no, it…it can't be. You're…you just…how did you even…"

"You really thought you could escape me for long, little Danielle?" The green-skinned man chuckled, folding his arms proudly as he slowly advanced towards Danielle.

Danielle frantically scooted away a bit. "No. I'm not afraid of you, Vlad! And I'm not going back!"

Harry's mind halted as he watched this scene stunned and confused.

"What's going on?"

Lupin had come running into the room followed closely by Danny who must have heard Danielle scream: for real this time. In seeing the hovering, caped man, Danny gasped, taking an involuntary step backwards. "No way!" he whispered, dumbstruck.

Hermione soon turned the corner as well, blinking at the sight of the menace floating above the raven-haired girl in the middle of the room.

The man the boggart had taken the form of smiled malevolently as he continued floating towards the frightened Danielle. "You can't deny the very reason you exist, Danielle."

"Vlad…please…no…" Danielle whimpered as she continued to scoot back.

"And now that I've returned," the caped figure's red eyes glowed triumphantly as he reached out a black-gloved hand towards Danielle, "_you'll_ return to _me_."

"NOOOOO!" Danielle screamed, looking away with her eyes shut tight as she shot a defensive hand in front of her that released an explosion of golden-yellow light from her open palm.

Ron and Sirius had entered the room just in time to see the golden beam hit the floating entity right in the chest. The boggart cried out in pain as the force of the blast threw it several feet backwards. Before it even reached the floor, it disintegrated into dust that hit the far wall.

Everyone froze, staring at where the boggart had been floating only the second previously. Lupin's wand was halfway out of his pocket and Danny had stepped forward with the intent of dashing to Danielle's rescue before she had beaten him to it. Mrs. Weasley was coming out from behind her hands near the wall, looking around to see that the boggart had been replaced by a heavily breathing Danielle that was clearly still alive. Though, Danielle herself remained curled up on the floor with her hand still outstretched in front of her.

"Molly!" Lupin said, stowing his half-drawn wand back into his robes and running towards Mrs. Weasley. "Molly, you all right?"

"Wh-where'd it go?" Mrs. Weasley said, shaking as Lupin bent down beside her.

"Well done, Danielle," laughed Lupin, impressed, turning to the girl that had single-handedly defeated the first boggart she had ever seen. Then his smile disappeared as he noticed Danielle staring catatonically into space as though she could see the creature still in front of her.

"Danielle?" Hermione squeaked from behind Harry.

Danielle didn't seem to hear her as she slowly looked more towards the floor. She raised her hands in front of her, staring at her palms for a second before using them to grasp at her hair, pulling her knees towards her chest.

Harry couldn't help taking a step towards her when Danny hurriedly raised his arm, blocking him. When Harry gave him a questioning look, he saw Danny biting his lower lip, looking very worried.

After looking between the two cousins, Harry asked Danny quietly and slowly, "is…she gonna be alright?"

Lupin, Mrs. Weasley, Sirius, Ron and Hermione looked at Danny as if with the same question. Danny looked quickly between everyone in the room before taking a few cautious steps towards his cousin.

"Dani?...Dani?…" he said gently. "Dani, you okay?"

Danielle didn't answer. She didn't move at all. If Harry hadn't known better, he'd have thought she turned into a statue. And what a pitiful looking statue it would have been.

"Danielle?" Danny said more urgently this time, carefully putting a hand on her shoulder. Danielle's head slowly rose from under her hands but her face was fixed in a blank stare into nothingness as if she were in a trance.

"Danielle," Danny said louder this time, giving her shoulder a little shake. Danielle once again, didn't move. "Dani, look at me."

Everyone started to exchange worried, as well as confused, looks in seeing Danielle being completely unresponsive in the tight ball she was curled up in.

Danny pursed his lips and set himself directly in front of his cousin, taking the sides of her head and forcing her to look into his face.

"Danielle Madeline Fenton!" he said desperately. "Snap out of it! Please!" Danielle blinked back into awareness, seeing her cousin's apprehensive face as he added in almost a whisper, "Because you're scaring me."

Danielle stared into Danny's eyes as if surprised, slowly taking Danny's wrists as if making sure he was real.

"Everything's okay. Right?" Danny encouraged with a nod as Danielle seemed to be taking in more of what was happening around her in the drawing room rather than whatever was going on in her head.

"He's gone," Danny said firmly, still keeping Danielle's face towards him. "He's—_gone—_Dani. And he's got _nothing_ on us. _Nothing_. It's okay."

Everyone watched for a long and apprehensive moment as Danielle's hands took a firmer hold on Danny's wrists, her face looking apologetic. She slowly looked around, her old self slowly returning as Danny carefully lowered his hands from Danielle's head down to her shoulders.

"Right..." Danielle finally said quietly, finding the ability to smile again as she took a few deep breaths. "Yeah…. I'm okay."

Danny pulled his cousin into a relieved hug and Harry heard everyone else let out breaths they must not have realized they had been holding.

"Sorry," said Danielle, looking a bit shamefaced.

"That one was pretty convincing, huh? Got me for a second there too." Danny laughed a bit, rocking Danielle in his embrace as he looked down at her encouragingly. "But you took care of it. Just like you did the real thing: By yourself."

"Right." Danielle half-laughed, shutting her eyes to take a deep breath for a minute before looking up at the place the imposter had been. "W-what was that anyway?"

"Boggart," said Lupin helpfully as he was assisting Mrs. Weasley to her feet. "Shapeshifters that can take on the form of your worst fears: Nothing but nightmares hiding in the shadows, waiting to scare you with visual images. Isn't that right, Molly?"

Mrs. Weasley seemed surprised at being addressed. "Y-Yes," she stuttered at first. "Yes of course…er…please, don't tell Arthur… Being silly."

"Come on, Dani, up you go," said Danny, pulling Danielle to her feet.

As if this was a sign that it was now okay to move, Harry and Hermione chanced getting closer to the two cousins this time. Ron still seemed a bit unsure and lagged behind.

"You all right?" Hermione was the first to ask.

Danielle still seemed a bit shaken, but she smiled, rubbing her head. "Yeah. Just…well…_spooked_ me is all."

The two girls giggled knowingly as if at some inside joke Harry felt he was missing.

"Perhaps I should give you the _Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3_ to read next. It has a chapter on boggarts," Hermione suggested with a shrug.

"Yeah…. Maybe…." said Danielle slowly. Taking a few deep breaths, she put her hand on her temple as though she had a headache.

"I told you you'd been studying too hard," said Danny, before turning to Hermione and Harry, "I better get her back to the room," he announced.

Wrapping an arm around his cousin's shoulders, he then began steering Danielle out of the drawing room. Just as they had gotten out of earshot of everyone else, Hermione called after them asking to wait just a moment longer.

"Danielle, I've seen a picture of that man before; the thing the boggart took the shape of." Hermione whispered before taking on an almost bewildered expression. "Was that…Vlad Plasmius? The archenemy of…?

"Yup. Same one," Danny interjected so Danielle wouldn't have to answer.

Hermione looked as though she wanted to ask more about it, but was interrupted by Ron calling her name. He was waving Hermione over to him and Harry from down the hall as though afraid being around the Fentons for too long would contaminate her in some way.

Hermione rolled her eyes, looking back at Danielle. Danielle looked at her open hand and then glanced timidly passed Hermione in Ron and Harry's direction.

"Hermione, they saw me," Danielle said worriedly.

"I'll think of something," Hermione whispered reassuringly. Then she strode off to join Harry and Ron as Danny and Danielle walked off towards their room.

"What _now_?" said Hermione impatiently after practically being shoved into Ron and Harry's room. Ron quickly closed the door, locking it behind them once she was inside.

"Did you see what she did to that Boggart?" said Ron, wide-eyed and in a suspicious undertone. "She set off a spell that completely fried it! From her _hand_! Wordlessly! What wizard alive could ever do a spell like that without a wand? And she's only fifteen!"

"Oh, come off it, Ron, it was obviously defensive reflex, that's all," said Hermione testily, not bothering to keep her voice down.

"She's got a point," said Harry thoughtfully. "I mean, _I've_ been able to do plenty of magic without a wand. I remember several times with the Dursleys were I made weird stuff happen before I even knew there was such a thing as magic."

"Exactly," said Hermione sounding relieved that Harry was taking her side. "There have been plenty of instances in which even the best trained wizards release magic when under extreme emotions. And I don't know about you two, but Danielle looked pretty scared to me. In fact, she completely panicked."

"But…why would she be that scared of a _vampire_?" said Ron, screwing his face in confusion.

"It wasn't a vampire, Ron," said Hermione as if offended.

"Well, what else could it have been, miss know-it-all?" Ron challenged.

"It was…" Hermione suddenly stopped. "Well I…I don't know, but it wasn't a vampire," she finished, frustrated.

"Well, whatever it was the boggart turned into," said Harry in an effort to get the other two to stop arguing, "Both the Fentons seemed to know that one specifically. Danielle even called it by name."

"I'm telling you, the two of them just keep getting more and more dodgy," said Ron, pointing as if what Harry said was rock-solid evidence that he was right. "I still can't believe Dumbledore recruited that kid into the Order."

"Oh, you're just jealous because you're not allowed in those meetings," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.

"And you're not?" Ron retorted. "And on top of that, the girl's going to be in the same school as us!"

"I know they're secretive, Ron, but that doesn't make them dangerous."

"Since when were you on _their_ side, anyway?"

"I just think you're being extremely judgmental. Especially considering you hardly know them."

"It would help if they'd just _tell_ us, you know." Ron folded his arms, giving Hermione a look that almost said, '_like you know them any better than we do anyway'._

"Ron, take a look at Lupin. He's a werewolf, but a very good man. He doesn't tell anyone because most of society considers him dangerous, even though his condition was something he couldn't help. Then there's Sirius; also a good man. He's a convicted criminal that has to stay in hiding because they'd lock him up for a crime the public only _thinks_ he's committed. What if the Fentons are in a similar situation?"

"What, that they're criminals back in their country?"

"No, of course not!" said Hermione, outraged. "That they're afraid of us judging them for something we don't understand."

"Well, how would they know if we wouldn't if they don't _tell_ us?" said Ron as if proving a point.

Hermione folded her arms, giving Ron a nasty look that expressed her clear opinion that he had not. "After the way you practically accused Danny right in front of his own cousin that day you found out he was in the Order? And the way you insulted Danielle herself when you found out she was going to attend Hogwarts with us? Which, by the way, she _heard_," — Ron and Harry looked at each other, surprised — "Yes, Ron, I can't imagine why they would possibly think you couldn't understand."

Silence fell into the room, during which time, Harry looked down at the floor in thought of a memory of the conversation he had with Danny only a few days back.

"Might even go deeper than just their type of magic," he said mysteriously.

This seemed to grab both Ron's and Hermione's attention.

"How d'you mean?" Hermione asked, looking a bit concerned for some reason.

Harry looked between Ron and Hermione, who were staring at him expectantly.

"Well," Harry began slowly. "Danny and I were cleaning in one of the rooms the other day. We were just talking, but…evidently, Danielle's been living with Danny's family for about a year now."

Ron's jaw dropped. "You mean you actually got him to _talk_?"

Harry shrugged defensively. "Not much. Certainly not about his magic."

For once during the whole conversation, Hermione actually looked curious. "Hold on, why's she living with her cousin's family? What about _hers?_"

"When I asked about that, Danny suddenly went quiet," said Harry, shrugging again. "Then he told me not to go asking her about it."

"Why's that then?" asked Ron with interest.

Harry shook his head. "He didn't say. But…" just then, a certain memory came into his head that took place further back than that conversation with Danny. "Ron, you remember what Danny said that time after Danielle got cheeky with Sirius about that locket?"

Ron's eyes shifted to the side before looking back at Harry, perplexed.

Harry snapped his fingers by his ear, trying to remember exactly how the conversation went. "Something about…sensitivities in her background," he finally said.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other. After a moment of thought, Hermione's face changed as a realization seemed to hit her.

"Harry," she said awestruck. "You think what happened with her parents has something to do with why she stood up for Kreacher?"

Harry shrugged, but Hermione's suggestion did give all three of them something to think about for the rest of the night.

**_Note: If you catch any grammatical or spelling errors, please restrain from putting them in the reviews and send them to me through a PM instead. No point in pointing out tiny things like that that will be changed the next time someone comes across it anyway._**

**_Whoo! Another really long one. Even longer than chapter 5 in fact. But hey, you guys said you were okay with them._**

**_Yup. Danielle's in Hufflepuff instead of Gryffindor. I know you guys must me upset that the Sorting Hat didn't put her in Gryffindor. Frankly, I'm still torn with not putting her there myself. But I felt it was one of those things that would just be way too predictable. And who can think of anyone more loyal than Danielle anyway? I hope you won't stay too mad at me about that for long._**

**_By the way, the setup of Danielle's Sorting was kind of inspired by another DP/HP crossover by Miriam1, A Vent Comes To Haunt. I'd recommend that one in the meantime. The fake wand they give Danielle was also inspired by an idea from Miriam1's A Vent Comes to Haunt._**

**_Anyway, I hope you liked the conversation between Danny and Harry that I put in. I was also hesitant on having Danielle's middle name being after Danny's mom or even mentioning a middle name at all. It seemed appropriate enough at the time, but at the same time it seems a bit weird what do you think? And with how the others found out that Danielle was going to Hogwarts? And Danielle's reaction to the cat? And the boggart? Did you find it realistic or was it a little over the top?_**

**_In any case, I hope you guys are still interested enough in this story to wait until possibly summer for the next update. Because I'm afraid that that's likely how long it's going to be before I can even begin writing the next chapter. With school starting up for me again, I've already hit the ground running...Hard. I really don't know when I'll be able to update again. In the meantime, I hope you did enjoy this one. Please leave your reviews on what you think of this chapter and the story thus far. ^_^ Thanks for your continued support._**


	10. On the Hogwarts Express

_**Finally, a new chapter! Updated in the summer, just as promised. And an extra long one to boot. Sorry for the wait. However, for some reason, my spell-checker hasn't been working right lately in picking up errors I knew for sure there were. I'd deliberately spell something wrong to test it out and absolutely nothing happened. So there may be even more typos than usual in this chapter. If you find any, please let me know where they are and how to fix them in a PM and DON'T draw attention to them in reviews.**_

_**Now, in this chapter both Danielle and Danny are going to be introduced to a couple of new characters from Harry Potter's world as Danielle is off to Hogwarts. Further, Danielle's going to find out more about the different houses and what kind of traits they have; for good or bad.**_

_**Hope you enjoy. ^_^**_

_**Disclaimer:**__** I do NOT own Danny Phantom (Except my design of the older version of Danielle) or any of the Harry Potter books or movies**__._

**Chapter 10: On the Hogwarts Express**

Danielle had a troubled night's sleep. The Vlad Plasmius imitation the boggart had taken shape of wove in and out of her mind no matter how hard she tried to think of anything else. In all honesty, she felt rather foolish that she was still allowing herself to be so bothered by events that happened years ago. After everything she had gone through after those times and all the ways her new family had been helping her for the past year, Danielle kept feeling she should have been over it by now. She already had the stress of events that might happen at a new school and the wonder of how well she'd be able to keep her identity a secret burdening her. Why now, of all times, did a rude awakening of those awful memories of that man have to remind her that she really wasn't completely over it after all.

Danielle awoke at a quarter after seven the next morning, finding Danny still sleeping soundly in the next bed. The train she and the other Hogwarts students were to take to the castle wouldn't be leaving the station until eleven o'clock. Regardless, Danielle resorted to getting out of bed to get ready for the day, finding it useless to try to get any more sleep. Not with all that her head kept spinning through; Vlad-related or otherwise.

Danielle was packing up the spell books she had left out for late-night reading when Danny stirred awake at last.

"Morning," Danny said with a cheerful yawn as he sat up.

"Hey," Danielle replied halfheartedly as she tried to organize her belongings into the new school trunk Dumbledore had provided for her. As she did so, she sincerely hoped Danny wouldn't bring up the boggart.

"Dani?" Danielle almost cringed in hearing the concern in her cousin's voice. "About last night..."

"...I'm okay..." said Danielle quietly and quickly. After a moment of silence, Danielle couldn't help looking towards Danny. The uncertainty on his face indicated that he must have been nervous in bringing up the subject. All the same, he was staring at her suspiciously.

"_Really,_" added Danielle, a bit more defensively than she intended.

"...You sure?"

"—Yeah..."

Danielle turned back to her trunk. It wasn't really a lie. The image of Vlad still dwelt in the back of her mind, but it was just a cheap knock-off after all. With all that was about to happen, she felt sure she'd get over it by the end of the day.

Another moment of silence occurred between the two cousins in which Danielle hoped Danny would say nothing more on the matter.

"Well...okay then," said Danny, still sounding a bit unconvinced. Danielle heard a rustling behind her before she caught a metallic cylindrical shape appearing from over her shoulder out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see that the cylinder had green outlines and instantly recognized the Fenton Thermos Danny was presenting her with.

"Seriously, Danny?" said Danielle forcefully, nearly knocking the Thermos out of Danny's hand in pushing it away as though it offended her. "You think I'm _that_ paranoid?"

"I wasn't meaning—" Danny stuttered, surprised. "I was gonna give it to you anyway."

Danielle folded her arms raising a skeptical eyebrow. "You really think I'm afraid Vlad will come out from under my bed at night and scare me while I'm at an unknown magic school?"

"Of course not," said Danny instantly, giving her a stern look as if thinking she was the one being ridiculous. "I've always known you could take him on anyway."

Danielle felt admittedly lighter in understanding Danny's confidence in her, but she didn't allow it to sate her exasperation with his overprotectiveness. She shook her head, turning once again to her trunk and ignoring the Thermos her cousin was offering.

Danny let out a frustrated sigh, letting the Thermos swing down to his side.

"Dani, don't you think your overreacting a little? I swear, this isn't about Vlad."

"Uh-huh."

"We don't know much about this world. There might be other things around here that use some form of ecto-energy that would still need to be kept under control. This can help with that-Just in case," Danny added with a defensive shrug when Danielle rolled her eyes towards him again.

"_Hogwarts: A History_ says electronics don't work within the castle grounds and Hermione says the kinds of ghosts they have there aren't anywhere near dangerous."

"_This_ doesn't run on normal electricity," Danny replied tirelessly, holding the Thermos up again and shaking it a little. "I just want to see if it would still work there. It could be a good learning experience for the both of us."

The two cousins fell silent and quite still: Danny extending the Fenton Thermos towards Danielle and Danielle folding her arms defiantly, frowning at her cousin. They stared at each other for a long moment as though testing each other's wills to see who would give out first, giving each other the same insistent expression. It was a long moment before either one of them even moved.

"Fine," Danielle gave up grudgingly, still glaring at Danny. She snatched the Fenton Thermos from his hand and tossed it unceremoniously into her trunk before snapping it closed. Danny had won this round...this time. However, as Danny was retreating into the closet with a change of clothes, Danielle couldn't help feeling a bit guilty for biting his head off the way she did. Even if he was concerned about her worrying about Vlad, all Danny had ever done was try to help. If Jazz had been here, Danielle had little doubt she'd say something like, "I know you're stressed and all, but did you really have to pick a fight so early in the morning?"

Apart from this, as Danielle thought of it, she did notice that she somehow did feel safer upon receiving the Fenton Thermos. Even if there wasn't anything new that she could use the Thermos on at the school, there were still a few ghosts from Amity Park that did like giving them a hard time wherever they went; Ghosts that may have even followed them overseas and just hadn't struck yet. Perhaps Danny was right. The Thermos just might come in handy while she was at Hogwarts.

Five minutes later, Danny emerged from the closet, fully dressed and ready to go as Danielle headed for the bedroom door with her head drooping down in thought. In doing so, she nearly walked right into Hermione who was just about to knock on the door when Danielle had suddenly opened it. They started laughing instantly after.

"Best not to do that in the future, Hermione," said Danny from his bedside, smiling. "She'd have blown you off your feet in other circumstances."

After the girls had stopped laughing, Hermione's gaze fell on the trunk Danielle was wheeling behind her.

"Good. I was just about to ask if you were getting packed yet," said Hermione. "Mrs. Weasley says to bring all the luggage downstairs as soon as possible."

Danielle nodded and followed Hermione into the hall and headed downstairs, dragging her trunk with her and glad to not have to be badgered by her older cousin for a time. On the ground floor, she found Mrs. Weasley talking to Mad-Eye Moody about something Danielle didn't quite catch when she set her trunk down and headed back upstairs to run one last sweep of her room for anything she might have forgotten. She saw Ginny stumbling with her own belongings at the top just as Danielle herself was passing the first landing.

Suddenly, Danielle gasped in seeing two trunks flying from the other end of the hall straight at Ginny who was dangerously close to the stairs.

"Look out!" Danielle cried urgently as she threw herself across the last few steps and grabbed Ginny's ankle.

Ginny let out a short yelp as she tensed for the impact of the trunks...that had already started toppling down the stairs behind her. The trunks hit the first landing with a crash that was sure to have sounded throughout the whole house. Sure enough, Mrs. Weasley came into view, taking a short glance at the trunks sprawled on the landing.

"FRED! GEORGE!" she bellowed angrily up the stairs.

"SORRY!" the voices of Fred and George called back in unison.

By that time, Ginny noticed that Danielle had a hold of her ankle.

"What are you doing? Get off me," Ginny said in irritated surprise. She practically kicked Danielle's hand off her leg as though it insulted her.

"You're welcome," Danielle said moodily under her breath. She wasn't about to tell Ginny that she had just turned her intangible to prevent her from getting knocked down the stairs. Not if she was going to behave that way about it.

"We were just trying to save ourselves the trouble of having to carry them," George called down the stairs apologetically.

"YOU COULD HAVE DONE SOMEONE A SERIOUS INJURY YOU IDIOTS!" Mrs. Weasley screamed at the top of her voice. She continued raging for another minute before Mad-Eye called up from the foot of the staircase.

"Molly! We still have some business to discuss before we leave, if you recall!"

Mrs. Weasley let out a perturbed growl. "We won't _be_ leaving any time soon if people don't stop fooling around..." she grumbled as she stomped back down the stairs.

"Saved by the Mad-Eye," whispered Fred with a relieved whistle as his mother disappeared beyond sight. No one seemed to notice that the trunks had gone right through Ginny on their way down the stairs; to Danielle's relief. Though she couldn't have cut it any closer, especially with Fred and George always being so curious about her powers.

In all the chaos, no one noticed that Danny had taken an intangible shortcut to the ground floor after realizing the stairs had been thoroughly blocked by bodies that were being yelled at by Mrs. Weasley. He landed out of sight on the ground floor in time to overhear Mrs. Weasley talking to Mad-Eye Moody.

"...Alastar, for heaven's sake, the children are going to miss the train!" Mrs. Weasley said, sounding as frustrated as she had been all morning.

"And if we leave without Podmore, the guard will be one short," Moody protested.

"What guard?" Danny interjected curiously, stepping up to the two adults. He specifically eyed Moody, having not known he was in the house. He wondered if his magical eye had caught sight of him coming down through the ceiling just now.

"Oh, just a guard for Harry in case Death Eaters for _some_ reason decided to attack him in the middle of a public setting," said Mrs. Weasley, giving Moody a look that clearly read that she thought the very idea was ridiculous.

"Safety first, Molly," said Moody firmly. "You never know what could happen."

"Um..._hello_! New Order member right _here_," said Danny, waving his hands in indication to himself. "If numbers are the issue, I can fill in."

Moody and Mrs. Weasley stared at him for a moment. Moody's giant electric-blue eye swiveled up and down Danny's skinny figure.

"You think you're bodyguard material, boy?" Moody said skeptically.

Danny folded his arms, knowing Moody thought he didn't look capable of much. Then again, neither had Dash Baxter.

"I've done it before," said Danny confidently. This was true. Ever since being designated the world-wide hero of the muggles, he had been requested as protection for several important people on just as many occasions. The mayor of Amity Park most of all. Frankly, Tucker Foley trusted none else better than his lifelong best friend for such a job.

"Really?" said Mrs. Weasley surprised, as well as a bit puzzled.

Danny's confidence seemed to leave an impression on Moody. His magical eye shifted around again as he took another analytical look at Danny with what seemed to be more consideration this time.

"Hmm. Well, I suppose you would be capable of more than your appearance would let on if Dumbledore would recruit you," he concluded before his eye continued its constant swerving around at everything else. "What have you got, boy?"

Danny's eyes shifted from side-to-side, making sure no one else was looking before he smirked.

"Stealth," he said.

He turned invisible, seeing Mrs. Weasley jump with a small startled squeak. Moody's magical eye flew frantically all over the room in search of the boy who had vanished before his eyes.

"Not to mention..." —Danny's voice came from behind Mrs. Weasley, giving her a start— "…The element of surprise," Danny reappeared as he came out through the door from the dining room, closing the door behind him with a snap and leaning casually against it, crossing his legs and folding his arms.

He couldn't help grinning at the bewilderment on even Moody's face. Evidently his magical eye couldn't see Danny while he was invisible. While it could see what was solid under devices such as invisibility cloaks and see through walls, Danny's whole being became imperceptible whenever he used that particular power. It wasn't just a layer he put around himself that cloaked him only from the outside. Danny made a mental note of this as Moody quickly shook off his surprise.

"Huh...It really _is_ good Dumbledore picked you up before Voldemort did" —Mrs. Weasley flinched at the mention of the name— "All right. I suppose you'll do."

Danny scoffed shaking his head at the _you'll do_.

"Still, can't help but wonder where Podmore's gone off to..." Moody said thoughtfully, scratching the back of his head.

Mrs. Weasley was still looking between the point Danny had started from, to the corner of the room where she had then heard his voice, to where he was now standing at the dining room door, as though wondering how he had gotten between all these points so fast without being detected of the slightest movement. Danny was starting to think perhaps he had overdone it a bit in showing off to Moody before Mrs. Weasley finally shook off her own surprise. She looked at her watch, being reminded of how much in a hurry they were all in.

"WILL YOU LOT GET DOWN HERE NOW, PLEASE!" she called impatiently up the stairs as though Danny had done absolutely nothing bizarre just now. For this, Danny was grateful.

Danielle was the first to make it down, followed soon after by Hermione and then Harry.

"Harry, you're to come with me and Tonks," said Mrs. Weasley over the heads of everyone else that was starting to crowd the entry hall. "Leave your trunk and your owl, Alastor's going to deal with the luggage...Oh, for heaven's sake Sirius, Dumbledore said no!"

A bearlike black dog with long scruffy fir had appeared at Harry's side as he was clambering over the various trunks cluttering the hall to get to Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh honestly..." said Mrs. Weasley despairingly, "Well, on your own head be it!"

She wrenched open the front door and stepped into the weak September sunlight. Harry and the dog, that was evidently Sirius in disguise, followed her before the door was slammed behind them.

"We're supposed to go in shifts to avoid attracting too much attention. This is a muggle neighborhood after all," Danny explained to Danielle when he stopped her from following them out the door.

Danielle didn't complain. She was more interested in lagging behind to ask Hermione a question anyway.

"So Sirius is a shape-shifter?"

"Well, an Animagus." Hermione corrected, looking like she also disapproved Sirius going outside, shaped like a dog or not. "If they choose, witches and wizards can learn to change into a specific animal at will. Sirius chose a dog."

"So, not all of you guys can turn into animals?" Danny asked from over Danielle's shoulder.

"Very few actually," said Hermione. "Learning to be an Animagus is very difficult. It took Sirius three years to master. In fact, there have only been seven—no wait, actually..." —she counted on her fingers for a moment—"..._eleven_ this century. Oh! By the way, I should probably mention; outside of headquarters, Sirius is supposed to be referred to as _Snuffles_."

"Gotcha," Danielle nodded, agreeing that this was indeed an important thing to know. "Anyone else that uses a codename?"

"Not that I know of. But we'll probably need to be careful what we put in writing."

Danielle looked around, seeing Ron was rather uncomfortable with Hermione sharing this information with Danielle at all. Figures.

The next group left Grimmauld Place about five minutes after Harry's. This time, the Fentons went with with Hermione, Ron and Mr. Weasley. Danny made sure he was out of sight before turning invisible to silently and secretly walk alongside them and keep a lookout for anything suspicious.

It took them twenty minutes to reach King's Cross Station by foot. Once inside the station, they lingered casually beside the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

"Oh, Danielle, I almost forgot to give you this," Mr. Weasley said, handing her a train ticket. On it read, _September first; Platform nine and three-quarters_.

Danielle squinted, thinking she must have misread the platform number before reading it again to confirm. She looked up at the barrier that separated platforms nine and ten. There was nothing there but brick wall that Harry was leaning against...before he vanished.

Danielle blinked in surprise, finding Harry nowhere in sight. Nor did she see Mrs. Weasley or the giant black dog, now that she thought of it. Thankful that Hermione was in her group, Danielle nudged her, eying the brick wall Harry seemed to have disappeared through.

"What's going on?"

"Oh. That's the gateway to platform nine and three-quarters," Hermione explained in a bit of an undertone as some people were walking by to platform ten. "You're supposed to walk straight at the wall."

Danielle rolled her eyes remembering how number twelve Grimmauld Place had been hidden between numbers eleven and thirteen. She should have known that a train bound for a secret magic school would be hidden in the same fashion.

"You need to make sure you don't stop as you're going through the barrier. And don't be scared or you'll crash into it," Hermione continued.

Mr. Weasley soon motioned that it was Danielle's turn to go through the barrier.

"Don't be nervous," Mr. Weasley reassured, trying to look as casual as possible with all the people around. "It's usually a good idea to do it at a run for your first time, though."

Danielle took her place next to the solid-looking brick wall of the barrier, thinking perhaps she'd go intangible to avoid any mishaps. Just in case. Once Mr. Weasley gave the word that the coast was clear, Danielle sidestepped through the brick wall, turning intangible just before doing so. Once on the other side, Danielle looked around, finding nothing had really changed. She looked back at the barrier she had passed through, finding that she still couldn't find any plastic nine and three-quarters label between the nine and ten.

"Danielle?"

Danielle looked around seeing a very confused Mr. Weasley looking at her from around the other side of the barrier. That was when Danielle realized all she had done was walk through the wall to the other side of the same platform she had started.

"Did you just go straight _through_ the wall?" said Mr. Weasley blinking in surprise.

Danielle circled back around to where Mr. Weasley, Hermione, and Ron were scratching their heads in confusion.

"I thought that's what the idea was," Danielle shrugged, trying hard not to look too awkward in front of either the muggles or the magic-folk. Thankfully, no one had been on the other side of the wall, watching.

"Yeah but...you're supposed to disappear _into_ the wall. Not turn up on the other side of it." said Hermione, staring at the barrier.

"The barrier must not fancy you," said Ron from behind Hermione. He looked a bit too happy with his teasing, as though hoping Danielle's failure to cross through the barrier meant she couldn't go to Hogwarts with them after all.

"Ron, why don't you try next," Mr. Weasley suggested, still looking confused.

Ron stared at his father wide-eyed. Then, glancing warily at the barrier, he started walking towards it. It seemed like he was afraid Danielle had infected the wall somehow and was afraid she'd broken it; That he'd crash into it. But he went straight through, just as Harry had. The barrier worked just fine.

"Strange," said Hermione quietly.

_Maybe it doesn't work if your not solid._ Danielle heard Danny's telepathic voice in her head. He must have realized from wherever he was hiding, invisible, that she had applied her ghost powers to try and go through the barrier. Danielle had also been considering this.

"Let me try again," Danielle said, stepping up to the barrier once more, feeling a little more nervous this time. She had never gone straight at any solid object without knowing she'd be intentionally going intangible before hitting it. Then again, the worst thing that could happen would be hitting her face on the wall. She had endured worse injuries than just a broken nose before.

Danielle looked at the barrier, hoping it wasn't spelled to sense whether or not she really had the same kind of magic the people that normally used it had. If it did, hopefully, like with Dumbledore's wand, it would _think_ she had magic through her ghost powers and allow her passage to the train she was supposed to board.

"You want to go together?" Hermione offered helpfully.

Danielle took a deep breath and shook her head. "No, I think I'm okay," she replied, but giving Hermione a thankful smile.

Mr. Weasley gave the word and Danielle, once again, leaned casually against the barrier, staying solid this time as she still fell right through. This time, the next sight she took in was drastically different. A scarlet train had appeared out of nowhere belching sooty steam over a platform packed with departing students and their families. Overhead, she spotted a sign that said Hogwarts Express. Behind her, she saw a wrought-iron archway where the brick wall had been with the words _Platform Nine and Three-Quarters_ on it. Not far off, she saw Harry and Mrs. Weasley talking with a tall boy with dreadlocks who was admiring the giant dog that was Sirius. Now she knew for sure that she had done it.

Before Danielle could take any time to admire the scenery much, Hermione had come up through the barrier behind her, nearly running straight into her for the second time that morning. Not long after, Moody suddenly came limping up behind them through the barrier pushing a large cart full of their trunks. A porter's cap was pulled down over his mismatched eyes. Danielle and Hermione both had to hurriedly move over towards Harry and Mrs. Weasley to avoid getting hit by the cart.

"All okay," Moody muttered to Mrs. Weasley and Tonks, who had used her Metamorphmagus magic to give herself tightly curled grey hair and was wearing a purple hat shaped like a porkpie today. "Don't think we were followed..."

Seconds later, Mr. Weasley emerged onto the platform. Danny soon came from behind a large bin being fully visible again to help with the trunks. They had almost unloaded Moody's luggage cart when Fred and George and Ginny turned up with Lupin.

"No trouble?" growled Moody.

"Nothing," said Lupin.

"I'll still be reporting Stirgis to Dumbledore," said Moody. "That's the second time he's not turned up in a week. Getting as unreliable as Mundungus."

The Order members, the Weasley family, Harry and Hermione started exchanging farewells and final cautionary warnings when Danny noticed Danielle had wandered away from the crowd with her own trunk, staring at the scarlet train as though in awe. She had her back towards him, so he couldn't read her face. Feeling there was something amiss, he approached her.

"Well, this is it," Danny said casually, coming up from behind Danielle. Danielle turned to face him upon his advance, allowing Danny to see the uncertainty reflecting off the expression on her face. Still, he remembered how defensive she had become back at Grimmauld Place when he tried to give her the Fenton Thermos, so he tried to act like he hadn't noticed. at least for now. "…Magic school…I can hardly believe it still..."

Danielle said nothing as she looked down at her feet. The expression on her face unchanging.

"You okay?" Danny asked in spite of himself.

Danielle glanced up at Danny for a moment. Danny thought for a split second that she was about to get mad again. She didn't seem to be though. In fact, she didn't seem to be trying to hide her nervousness at all this time.

"This...this is the first time I'll be going to school without you," she finally said quietly.

Danny stared for a moment, having not expected this response. Then again, how could he not have thought of this before? Danielle had always been nervous being around people in school back at home, but at least back in Amity Park, Danny was always within the same building with her. This time, that wasn't the case. Danny was going to be needed elsewhere for the majority of the time she was doing undercover work at Hogwarts.

"You'll be fine. It's just another mission," he said with a shrug, smiling as encouragingly as possible.

"A whole year long one at a place where I won't have _anyone_ to relate to," said Danielle looking down at her trunk and rubbing her arm.

"I don't know about that." Danny shook his head, thinking of Hermione. Danielle's head drooped, unconvinced before Danny sighed. "Tell you what though. If you'd like, I'll check in now and then as you start off."

A smile tugged at the corners of Danielle's mouth at the mention of this. She seemed in a much more accepting mood than she had been earlier that morning. "That would help. Thanks."

Danny shrugged, smiling. "That's what family's for."

Danielle gave a genuine smile this time before rushing at Danny for a tight hug that he returned without hesitation, glad she seemed to be back to her old self since the boggart incident. That was just before a snide voice came from behind them.

"Well, would you look at that. The nutter Potter's actually managed to find himself a—" The Fenton cousins parted from their embrace to see who was addressing them so rudely—"…_girl...friend_…?"

A blond boy with a pale pointed face lost the confidence in the last of his sentence once Danny had turned to face him. He stared at Danny for a moment in surprised confusion and was accompanied by two thickset boys that had the same expressions on their faces in seeing Danny facing them. Aside from the confusion on their faces, the two other boys looked very mean and could very well have been bodyguards to the pale boy.

"You got something against my cousin, Blondie?" Danielle challenged the boy, putting her hands to her hips and glaring at him in outrage.

"No, of course not!" the pale boy said apologetically at once after shaking off his perplexity. "I just thought he was...someone else…"

Danny and Danielle shared a glance.

"Nice to know you like judging people based on the backs of their heads," said Danielle testily.

"And I do apologize for that," the boy said with a slight bow of his head. Then he glanced down at Danielle's trunk. "Er...would you like some help?"

Danielle continued her frown. "Not from _you_, thank you."

"I insist. Let me make it up to you," the boy said respectfully.

Danielle still felt a bit peeved by the boy's first introduction and she distinctly remembered that he had mistaken Danny as the "nutter Potter." Clearly this kid had been believing every word the _Daily Prophet_ had been saying about him and wasn't afraid to show it. Her eyes shifted in Danny's direction as though asking his opinion. Danny simply shrugged his head towards the boy and his two friends.

"Fine," said Danielle, rolling her eyes.

The pale boy looked relieved by Danielle's response. He turned towards his two friends, giving them a visual cue. Instantly, they each took an end of Danielle's trunk and easily lifted it off the ground.

"Why have I never seen you before?" asked the blond boy as all five of the teens made their way to the closest carriage door.

"Probably cause I've never _been_ here before," replied Danielle, not really feeling that she wanted to talk to this boy much. "Exchange student."

"Oh, that explains it. Where from?" the boy asked with interest.

"USA. North America," Danny answered for her.

"I had noticed the accent," the boy nodded, looking proud of his lucky mental guess.

The two brawny boys lifted Danielle's trunk through the door and onto the train when their leader turned to face Danielle directly.

"My name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy at your service," the boy introduced, holding out his hand for Danielle to shake. Danny piqued an eyebrow, warily eying all three of the boys as Danielle hesitantly shook Draco Malfoy's hand. "This is Crabb and Goyle," Malfoy indicated his two friends who nodded in turn to Danielle as they were introduced.

"Danielle Fenton," said Danielle with a nod in returned greeting. The frown on her face unchanged. "And this is my cousin, Danny."

"Pleasure," said Danny, taking his own turn to shake Malfoy's hand but still staring at him distrustfully. "When not being mistaken for a..."nutter" that is."

"Again; My apologies," Malfoy reassured.

Out of boredom and just wanting this conversation with the boy to end, Danielle happened to glance over to where she saw the Weasleys saying their last goodbyes before boarding the train. She noticed the giant black dog had reared up on its hind legs, putting its front paws on Harry's shoulders in an oddly human-like manner. Seconds later, she realized Ron and Ginny were looking in her direction with disconcerting looks just before they disappeared from sight.

Before Danielle could think much more on this, the train whistle sounded.

"We should board now. The train's about to leave," said Malfoy, gesturing Danielle to go first through the door where Crabb and Goyle waited with her trunk. Before doing so, Danielle turned to Danny to give him one last hug.

"Bye, Danny," she said as she tightly squeezed her cousin. At least this time, Malfoy had the courtesy to not say anything.

"Bye, Dani," Danny replied back before pulling her away to look in her face, smiling. "You'll be _fine_." Then he added telepathically in a more cautionary tone, _Be careful though. I recognize this kid's last name. And it's not on the nice list._

Danielle nodded in response (both to the telepathic and verbal message) before stepping onto the train. She felt a bit uncomfortable having the blond kid enter directly behind her as she reclaimed her trunk from his two brawny minions. She managed to wave goodbye to her cousin one last time before the train door was closed behind them. Soon after, she felt the train begin to move.

As she was making her way down the corridor with the three boys following close behind, she found it difficult finding a compartment that wasn't already filled with unfamiliar faces. She came to an eventual halt in the middle of the corridor wondering where she was supposed to go and whether or not there was a special place she was supposed to put her trunk.

"Would you like to sit with us, Fenton?" the voice of Malfoy offered politely, interrupting Danielle's thoughts.

"Uh..." Danielle had not counted on the three boys still following her at this point. Thankfully, she was saved the trouble of having to answer Malfoy's question for the moment when a girl came down the corridor towards them.

"Hurry, Draco. We have to get to the prefects carriage," she stopped suddenly in noticing Danielle. "Who's she?"

"New student, my dear Pansy," Malfoy answered her, looking delighted to see her. "Transferring from the United States this year."

"The States, eh," the girl named Pansy looked up and down Danielle, obviously disapproving of her messy hairstyle. "And her name?"

"Danielle Fenton," Danielle intervened. She didn't much like being addressed by the girl as though she wasn't there.

"I see," said Pansy, disinterested. "Well, Draco, we have to get going," she said, taking Malfoy's arm and attempting to pull him away.

"What's going on?" Danielle asked curiously.

Draco gently took his arm from Pansy before explaining. "Well. As new prefects, it's mandatory for us to go to the prefects carriage for instructions."

So this snooty blond kid and his girlfriend were prefects too. Danielle thought. This could really mean trouble.

"However, you're welcome to share a compartment with us once we return," Malfoy continued. Pansy looked suspiciously between Danielle and Malfoy upon this suggestion. "Crabb and Goyle are very good at finding seats. It shouldn't take long."

"The prefect meeting or finding seats?" Danielle asked as she eyed the two boys that had to be twice any normal person's size.

"Draco, there's no need to babysit the foreigner," Pansy whispered to Malfoy pressingly; again, talking about Danielle as though she were nothing important.

"I'm simply trying to be a good host, Pansy," Draco insisted, looking as though he was starting to get annoyed by the girl.

"I think I can find my own way around, actually," said Danielle, maneuvering her trunk to pull it after her. She was starting to feel rather claustrophobic in the narrow aisle of the train car and it was a perfect opportunity to get some distance from the boy anyway. "Wouldn't want to make you late for your meeting."

"Oh, don't be absurd," Malfoy protested as Danielle was taking a step down the corridor. "As a Slytherin prefect, I can't allow one unfamiliar with the customs of a new country to wander off and mingle with questionable strangers."

Danielle opened her mouth to speak when a familiar voice came from the other end of the corridor.

"And who would be any more _questionable_ or _stranger_ than you, Malfoy?"

It was Fred. He and George came up behind Danielle and stood on either side of her, just as Crabb and Goyle seemed to always be behind Malfoy. Danielle looked at the pale boy, noticing that his face had taken on a self-important expression as he narrowed his eyes at the Weasley twins.

"I can name a fair few people _you_ keep for company, Weasley," Malfoy said arrogantly to Fred.

"These kids bothering you, Dani?" George asked Danielle.

"No, not at all," said Danielle sarcastically. She felt quite satisfied in catching the look of surprise on the three boys' faces in seeing her talking to the Weasleys like she knew them well. "Just getting to know each other." Her gaze turned to Malfoy specifically and she glared at him disapprovingly.

Malfoy looked between Danielle and the red-headed boys with a raised eyebrow. "You know of the blood-traitor Weasley's, then?" Malfoy asked slowly, looking at her as though the very sight of the new girl with the family he evidently found inferior to himself was shameful.

"Yes; I do," said Danielle boldly, folding her arms for emphasis. "And that's the second time in the last twenty minutes that you've straight up insulted someone I know."

Pansy sneered at Danielle as though this had confirmed that her precious Draco shouldn't be hanging around this new girl. Malfoy himself was looking rather disappointed in Danielle. After a moment he scoffed, shaking his head.

"See, this is exactly the sort of thing I was afraid would happen, Fenton," he said, indicating the two Weasleys. "You really aught to be more careful of the kind of people you associate with."

Fred and George snorted, looking at each other with piqued eyebrows before Fred turned to address Malfoy again. "Well, good thing the sorting hat's already decided last week that she shouldn't be associated with _your_ lot, then, because that's a Hufflepuff you're flirting with, Malfoy."

Danielle shot a look at the twins. She hadn't wanted to reveal what house she was in yet until she had gathered a bit more political information. She did however enjoy seeing Draco's eyes grow to the size of dinner plates at what Fred and George had just revealed. Crabb and Goyle's jaws dropped and Pansy gasped staring at Malfoy in bewilderment.

"I know," George put in, seeing the looks on their faces. "Seeing how she already hates _you_, she aught to be in Gryffindor."

Compartment doors were slowly opening around them with curious student faces peaking from behind them to see what all the fuss in the corridor was about. Most gave Malfoy either fearful or disgusted looks when seeing he was also accompanied by the enormous Crabb and Goyle. Some glanced curiously at Danielle, whom they had never seen before, accompanied by the fun-loving care-free Weasley twins.

"You've already been sorted?" Malfoy asked, staring dumbfounded at Danielle. "And...you're not in Slytherin?"

"_You're_ the one who never asked," Danielle shrugged. Then added rather curiously, "Do I look like one to you?"

"Well..." Malfoy hesitated at first, becoming conscious of all the people that were beginning to stare at him. "_Yes_, actually."

Danielle and the Weasley twins gave Malfoy a questioning look that asked him where in the world he had picked up any such thought.

"Well—there was this—an air of…_mystery_ about you and—and your general attitude when we were first introduced—"

"_You insulted my FAMILY, what did you expect?_" Danielle retorted, throwing her hands in the air and shaking her head in disappointment. "I would have thought that mix-up you made with my cousin earlier would have already taught you not to judge from the outside," Then, even after Malfoy looked like he had been slapped in the face, Danielle grinned triumphantly, patting the top of her trunk. "Thanks for helping me with my luggage anyway, though."

"_WHAT_?" Pansy gasped, gaping at Malfoy as his, Crabb's and Goyle's faces suddenly turned red.

"Oooooooooooooooooooooooooh!" Fred and George chorused in unison, looking at each other and ending with an amused laugh. Any compartment door that wasn't already opened in the carriage was certainly open now at the sound of Pansy's outburst. Danielle caught bits of murmurings coming from the students in the surrounding compartments saying things such as...

"What was _that_ all about?"

"Who's that girl?"

"Never seen her before."

"_Malfoy_ helped a _Hufflepuff_?"

"He _flirted_ with a Hufflepuff?"

Danielle, her work with the Slytherins done, spun on her heal, hauling her trunk off through the corridor with her head held high and the Weasleys proudly falling into step behind her. As she crossed the threshold to the next carriage, over the collective chatter of the surrounding crowd, Danielle heard Pansy asking Draco in a stunned voice, "Draco, is this true?"

"No I—!" Malfoy stammered, looking between Danielle, Pansy and all the staring students. "She was—it's just…I thought—She just looked—!"

Danielle doubted he was able to come up with any reasonable excuse for his association with the Hufflepuff exchange student by the time she had reached the next train car. Once Danielle was sure they were a safe distance from the multitude that had thankfully stuck mainly around Malfoy, she turned to the twins with relief.

"Thanks, you guys. That kid was starting to give me the creeps. _And that's saying something._" Danielle added the last bit in an undertone.

"No problem. He does that," said George, looking in the direction they had left Malfoy with disgust.

"Although, I've never seen anyone new to Malfoy deal with him that handily before," said Fred, looking rather impressed with Danielle.

"Yeah, that was brilliant!" George commented with a smile.

"Um...thanks..." Danielle replied shyly, letting her long dark bangs fall over her eyes in feeling her cheeks getting a bit hot. It was nothing really. She had witty banter exchanges at home while fighting wayward ghosts all the time. Having arguments with her cousin who was just as good at cutting to the quick with enemies also gave her plenty of practice.

"Come on, Dani," said Fred, patting her on the shoulder as he passed to the front of her. "We'll guide you to a group of people that would be far more to your liking: Even if not as fun as we are."

Danielle was rather hesitant as Fred took the lead in showing the way down the corridor. She felt she'd rather just sit by herself. As she thought it over, however, sitting with strangers the Weasley's recommended was likely better than sitting with the Slytherin snobs she had to deal with only moments ago. For that, she was definitely grateful. As they proceeded further down the train, she noticed that all the compartments seemed to already be full anyway. Any compartment doors that were left opened as she passed by allowed students within them to get a curious glimpse at her as she walked by.

Fred reached a certain compartment in the very last carriage and slid open the door.

"Hey kids. We found a friend for you in case you were getting lonely," he called cheerfully into the compartment. He guided Danielle along and nudged her inside. Danielle then realized that this one actually contained some people she knew. Harry Potter sat in the corner (for some reason holding a toad in his lap) and Ginny Weasley sat opposite a boy Danielle had not seen before. He had a round face and was holding a potted plant that looked like a small gray cactus, except it was covered with what looked like boils rather than spines. By the window, sitting opposite Harry, there was someone else who's face was hidden behind a magazine.

"See you all later," George waved inside the compartment after Danielle was inside with her trunk. "We've got some business to attend to with Lee Jordan."

With that, they gave Danielle a final wink and closed the compartment door, leaving Danielle standing there and being stared at by Harry, Ginny and the new boy. The girl hiding behind the magazine barely even moved.

"You're not going to sit with the new _friend_ you met on the platform?" Ginny sneered at Danielle suspiciously.

Danielle assumed she was talking about Malfoy and remembered that she and Ron had both seen her talking with the pale-faced bully and his oversized bodyguards. The Malfoys and the Weasleys must really have had it in for each other if Ginny found it so wrong for Danielle to just talk to him. It wasn't like she enjoyed it in the slightest degree. Danielle didn't really feel like explaining herself if Ginny was just going to look at her like that, though. Instead, Danielle looked around the compartment, trying not to look too out-of-place.

"Uh...Where's Hermione? And Ron?" she asked.

"Prefects carriage," Harry replied rather miserably.

"Oh…right," Danielle slapped a hand on her forehead in remembering how they were both made prefects. Malfoy had mentioned that were going to be in a separate carriage for a time. "Will they be back soon?"

"They should be," said the round-faced boy.

At that moment, Danielle realized that the plant the boy carried was actually one she recognized from one of the books Hermione had lent her. In an effort to avoid awkward silences, she bent down, pretending to take a particular interest in the plant.

"Hey. Is that a...mah...meh...mim..." she stumbled with her sentence as her mind slipped on what the plant was called. Something rather complicated and started with an 'M'. "...Oh, what's the name..." she whispered in frustration, snapping her fingers by her temple, hoping a memory would spark.

"Mimbulus Mimbletonia?" the boy said with a hopeful glint in his eye.

"Yeah! That's the one! They're supposed to be really rare, aren't they?"

The boy looked to be getting excited that Danielle was showing any interest in his plant at all. "Yeah. I got it for my birthday over the summer. You know about them?"

"I've read about them," Danielle shrugged feeling that Danny would be proud in seeing that she had struck this conversation herself. She bent down again, trying to look at the plant at a few different angles. "Those are the ones that can shoot really smelly sap stuff right? One about this size could squirt to about a ten-foot radius."

Suddenly the boy's face turned red as he looked guiltily in Harry and Ginny's direction.

"Now_ someone tells us_," Danielle heard Harry say under his breath as he stared out the window, looking mildly irritated. In also seeing Ginny slump in her seat, Danielle decided this probably wasn't the best time to ask if their reactions meant they had already witnessed the Mimbulus Mimbletonia's defense mechanism firsthand.

"That's pretty cool," was all Danielle thought to say next to the boy as she straightened up again.

"Thanks," the boy said beaming. "I'm Neville by the way. Neville Longbottom. I'm a Gryffindor."

He thrust his hand out excitedly and Danielle shook it gratefully, feeling successful that she had made a good first impression. Once Neville had released her hand, he gestured to the others.

"This is Harry Potter and G—"

"—We're acquainted, Neville," Ginny said lazily and not really looking at Danielle. "This is Danielle Fenton. She's transferring from The United States this year and in Hufflepuff."

"Oh. I had noticed the accent," said Neville with even more fascination.

Danielle let out a nervous laugh as she stowed her trunk into the luggage rack next to the other kids' luggage. "Yeah. I've been noticing that's a bit of a giveaway around here." She then sat herself by the door opposite the boy with the Mimbulus Mimbletonia, feeling confident that he at least wasn't about to kick her out of the compartment for being weird. "Nice to meet you, Neville."

"Likewise," Neville smiled, sitting back in his seat with a decisive expression that he was going to like this new kid.

"You're from America?" said a dreamy voice from the corner.

Danielle looked to see that the girl opposite Harry had come out from behind her magazine. She had straggly, waist-length, dirty-blond hair, very pale eyebrows, and stared at Danielle with protuberant eyes that gave her a permanent surprised look. Based on the awkward glances that Harry and Neville seemed to be giving her, Danielle could tell that even among wizard kind, this girl was considered rather strange. Danielle definitely detected an aura of distinct dottiness coming from the girl. Perhaps it was the fact that she had stuck her wand behind her left ear for safekeeping, or that she had chosen to wear a necklace of butterbeer caps, or that she was reading her magazine upside-down (Danielle noted that it was called _The Quibbler_).

"Uh..." Danielle suddenly remembered that the girl had asked her a question. "Yeah. Yeah, I am." It seemed just being from a different country was making her stand out more than she had hoped.

"I've never been there. I hear it's nice," the girl said in her dreamy voice, looking at Danielle with curiosity. "Are there Crumple-Horned Snorkacks?"

Danielle couldn't help raising her eyebrows at just the sound of the name. She looked at the others for help, but they didn't seem to know what the heck the girl was talking about either. "Um...not that _I_ know of," Danielle decided to say. "But I do like it there." She suddenly became lost in thoughts of her Uncle Jack and Aunt Maddie back home. She also wondered how her cousin Jazz would react if she was ever told that she was attending a school from a completely different world other than the human world or Ghost Zone.

"Do you miss it?" the girl with the magazine asked with a trace of pity in her otherwise wistful voice. She must have caught Danielle daydreaming.

"Well..." Danielle hesitated at first before realizing that Harry and Neville were now looking at her expectantly. Ginny even glanced at her curiously, even if she was still frowning. "It's definitely different here," Danielle finally said. "I can't deny I'm still getting used to it."

The girl smiled in understanding. "Luna Lovegood; Ravenclaw," she simply said. Then she raised her upside-down magazine high enough to hide her face and fell silent.

"Charmed..." Danielle replied uncertainly, looking at the boys, who simply shrugged, not knowing what to make of Luna Lovegood themselves. Ginny, on the other hand, suppressed a giggle.

The train rattled onward, speeding them out into open country. It was an odd, unsettled sort of day. One moment the carriage was filled with sunlight and the next they were passing beneath ominously gray clouds. What didn't exactly help was that by the time the snack trolly had gone by, Danielle found out that the train ride to the school was going to take a lot longer than she had expected.

"I'm not really hungry right now," Danielle tried to say when the boys realized that she didn't get anything from the trolly and she hadn't brought any lunch from Grimmauld Place.

"You will be before we get there. The train doesn't arrive at the castle until after nightfall," Harry explained as he and Neville both offered a few of the snacks they had purchased from the trolly.

Danielle did find the Pumpkin Pasties and Licorice Wands fascinating, but the thought of staying in the compartment all the way until nightfall was almost unbearable. She managed to find some form of entertainment when Harry, Ginny and Neville started swapping collecting cards they had gotten from the packages of the Chocolate Frogs from the trolly. They handed Danielle a few extras to start her own collection if she wanted. Danielle was more interested in just reading the descriptions of famous witches and wizards the cards were of and watching the pictures of them move.

This distraction didn't last long. More than once, Danielle felt tempted to escape the confines of the compartment, find a place to Go Ghost, and take a flight alongside the train outside. She never liked being in small cramped spaces. It reminded her of...terrible things. In fact, she felt the train was going so slow, she could have just used her Plasma Rocket to follow the tracks and have probably already been there by now. However, she couldn't take her trunk with her without getting weird looks from everyone in the compartment. For all she knew, there was some special barrier protecting the school and that could only make it seen or at all accessible by train. How would she know what to do once she got to Hogwarts anyway? If any of the teachers saw her there, how would she explain how she had arrived several hours before the Hogwarts Express had? What would she do in all the time she'd have to wait for the train with the other students to arrive anyway?

Danielle was pulled out of her thoughts about an hour later when the compartment door slid open. She was relieved to see Hermione walk in, even if followed directly by Ron. They were accompanied by Crookshanks and Ron's tiny, shrilly hooting owl named Pigwigeon in his cage.

"I'm starving," said Ron, stowing Pigwigeon next to Harry's owl Hedwig, grabbing a Chocolate Frog from Harry and throwing himself in the seat next to him. Suddenly his eyes popped upon noticing Danielle. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Is there a problem?" Danielle asked, giving Ron a defensive look in feeling like she was being accused of something. Neville seemed quite taken aback by Ron's reaction.

"_Ron_!" Hermione scolded before turning to Danielle with an intentionally lighter tone, as though apologizing for Ron's behavior. "Hello, Danielle. Having a good trip?"

"Met some new people," Danielle nodded towards Neville who had put away his Mimbulus Mimbletonia to keep a hold of Trevor, his pet toad. She had found out earlier that Harry had just been holding him for Neville to present his wonderful plant.

"Hello, Neville," Hermione greeted before turning back to Danielle. "Anyone from Hufflepuff?"

"Well, no. Not yet."

Ron ripped open the wrapper of his Chocolate Frog. "You seemed to have gotten a good start with a few people in certain _other_ houses, though," he said in a very fake cheerful tone as he bit off the frog's head, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Danielle. It was clear to her now that he thought she had been getting too friendly with Malfoy for his liking. Wondering if all red-heads always held grudges Danielle folded her arms, remaining silent and trying to ignore Ron for the moment.

"Well, there are two new fifth-year prefects in each house," said Hermione, looking thoroughly disgruntled as she took her seat. "Boy and girl from each."

"And guess who's a Slytherin prefect?" said Ron, leaning back with his eyes closed as though he had had a very exhausting morning.

"Malfoy," replied Harry at once, looking like his worst fear had been confirmed. Neville also looked completely hopeless in hearing this news.

" 'Course," said Ron bitterly, stuffing the rest of the frog into his mouth and taking another. He was also giving Danielle an uncertain look, as though wondering if it was safe to talk about Malfoy in such a way in front of her.

"And that complete _cow_ Pansy Parkinsen," said Hermione viciously. "How she got to be a prefect when she's thicker than a concussed troll..."

"Who's Hufflepuff?" Harry asked.

"Ernie Macmillon and Hannah Abbot," said Ron thickly.

"And Anthony Goldstien and Padma Patil for Ravenclaw," said Hermione.

"You went to the Yule Ball with Padma Patil," said a vague voice. Everyone turned to look at Luna Lovegood, who was gazing unblinkingly at Ron over the top of _The Quibbler_. He swallowed his mouth full of frog.

"Yeah, I know I did," he said, looking mildly surprised.

"She didn't enjoy it very much," Luna informed him. "She doesn't think you treated her very well because you wouldn't dance with her. I don't think I'd have minded," she added thoughtfully, "I don't like dancing very much."

She retreated behind _The Quibbler _again. Ron stared at the cover with his mouth hanging open for a few seconds, then looked around at Ginny for some kind of explanation, but Ginny had stuffed her knuckles in her mouth to stop herself giggling.

"This sounds like an interesting story," said Danielle, giving Ron a vengeful smile.

"Oh, the best part isn't even the dance," said Ginny, grinning madly and seeming to forget that she wasn't supposed to like Danielle for the moment. "You should hear what happened before he even decided to take Padma Patil."

"_Anyway_," Ron interrupted loudly and checking his watch. "We're supposed to patrol the corridors every so often. And we can give out punishments if people are misbehaving," he told Harry and Neville. He then shot a warning look to Danielle as though the 'misbehaving' applied to her specifically. "I can't wait to get Crabb and Goyle for something..."

"You're not supposed to abuse your position, Ron!" said Hermione, sharply.

"Yeah, right, because Malfoy won't abuse it at all," said Ron sarcastically.

"So you're going to descend to his level?"

"No. I'm just going to make sure I get his mates before he gets mine." Again, he looked directly at Danielle as he said this.

"Oh for heaven's sake, Ron-"

I'll make Goyle do lines, it'll kill him, he hates writing," said Ron happily. He lowered his voice to Goyle's low grunt and, screwing up his face in a look of pained concentration, mimed writing in midair. "..._I...must...not...look...like...a...baboon's...back side..."_

Everyone laughed, including Danielle. Who knew with all the negative gossip Ron had been sharing about herself and her cousin, he actually had a sense of humor? However, no one laughed harder than Luna Lovegood. She let out a scream of mirth that caused Hedwig to wake up and flap her wings indignantly and Crookshanks to leap up into the luggage rack, hissing. She laughed so hard that her magazine slipped out of her grasp, slid down her legs and onto the floor.

"That was _funny_."

Her prominent eyes swam with tears as she gasped for breath, staring at Ron. Utterly nonplussed, he looked around at the others, who were now laughing at the expression on Ron's face and at the ludicrously prolonged laughter of Luna Lovegood, who was rocking back and forth, clutching her sides.

"Are you taking the mickey?" said Ron, frowning at her.

"Baboon's...backside!" she choked, holding her ribs.

Danielle felt relieved that she wasn't considered the only oddball in the compartment now when she noticed Harry had taken an interest in the magazine that was now on the floor. He picked it up, staring at a page that made his face screw in amazed confusion.

"Can I have a look at this?" Harry asked Luna eagerly.

Luna nodded, still gazing at Ron, breathless with laughter.

Harry sat back down and opened the magazine. Danielle watched him curiously as he fanned through the pages. The look on his face became more and more bewildered the further he scanned through it.

"Anything good in there?" asked Ron after Harry closed the magazine.

"Of course not," said Hermione scathingly, before Harry could answer. "_The_ _Quibbler'_s rubbish, everyone knows that."

"Excuse me," said Luna; her voice had suddenly lost its dreamy quality. "My father's the editor."

"I—oh," said Hermione, looking embarrassed. "Well...it's got some interesting...I mean it's quite..."

"I'll have it back, thank you," said Luna coldly, and leaning forward she snatched it out of Harry's hands. Riffling through it to the the page she was on, she turned it resolutely upside down again and disappeared behind it.

"That was tactful," said Danielle, folding her arms as she gave Hermione a disapproving look.

Just then, the compartment door opened once again. Everyone looked around at the sight of Draco Malfoy smirking at Harry from between his two cronies Crabb and Goyle. Based on looks of utmost loathing coming from most of the people in the compartment, Danielle had the instant feeling that there were about to be fireworks.

"What?" Harry said aggressively before Malfoy could open his mouth.

"Manners Potter, or I'll give you a detention," drawled Malfoy. "You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means, I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments."

"Yeah," said Harry. "But you unlike me are a git so get out and leave us alone.

Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville laughed. Danielle smiled in seeing Malfoy's lip curl. She could tell that this battle must have been raging for years already between these two groups.

"Tell me, how does it feel being second-best to Weasley, Potter?" Malfoy asked.

"Shut up, Malfoy," said Hermione sharply.

"I seem to have touched a nerve," said Malfoy smirking. "Well, just watch yourself Potter, because I'll be _dogging_ your footsteps in case you step out of line."

Danielle piqued an eyebrow, seeing Harry's and Hermione's faces.

"Get out!" said Hermione standing up.

"Oh, don't be so hard on him, Hermione," Danielle quickly said in a fake sympathetic voice. "He _can_ be a gentleman when he wants to be."

"WHAT?" All in the compartment cried out, (except Luna) staring at Danielle in complete disbelief. Malfoy looked at her as though he had only just noticed she was there and now regretting having entered the compartment at all.

"And how do you figure that?" Ron asked Danielle accusingly.

"He had his friends help me with my luggage earlier," said Danielle before directing a sly smile in Malfoy's direction. "It was so kind of him."

"Really," said Hermione, seeming to catch the drift that this fact was actually disturbing Malfoy. "_You_?"

"_That_ was a misunderstanding!" Malfoy scathed after noticing the looks he was getting.

Danielle continued to smile mischievously as she continued to push Malfoy's buttons. "What? You mean you don't want anyone to know how chivalrous you can really be?"

Harry leaned back in his seat, giving Malfoy a devious look. "Never thought you were capable of any sort of decency, Malfoy, let alone to a muggle-born."

"Not to anyone I know is associated with—!" Malfoy stopped dead and shot a stunned look at Danielle. "Wait...you're _muggle_-born?"

"Which I'm guessing is what you're worried about reaching certain ears," Danielle folded her arms triumphantly in seeing Malfoy's already pale face go even paler. "So, before you make yourself even more of a laughing-stalk than that look on your face, I highly suggest you clam up and move out. Because _you_, my friend, are already on some pretty thin ice from where I'm standing."

Danielle knew she was right; and she knew Malfoy knew it. He had already had a bad first impression in insulting her cousin and then insulting the Weasley twins and now he was picking on the people who were her guide through the Wizarding World. Further, if by the word "dogging_"_, he had meant Sirius back on the platform, he'd have to be careful in not letting it slip to anyone else. The pale bully may have had an authoritative position that he was bragging about earlier, but Danielle now held his reputation in the palm of her hand.

Harry leaned back in his seat, putting his hands behind his head, giving Malfoy a very satisfied look that clearly said, 'sounds like you'd better be watching your _own_ step, Malfoy.'

Malfoy looked around the compartment, finding he had lost his upper hand. He growled, slamming the compartment door shut, but not before Danielle let out a cheerful, but still teasing "bye" to Malfoy as he was doing so. Being closest to the door, Danielle strained her ears, hearing Malfoy saying to his flunkies in a harsh whisper, "_Not a word about this to my father—Or anyone—You hear!" _He sounded so frustrated, his intentionally cryptic message was still heard through the door by all others in the compartment with Danielle.

"Wow. That rattled his cage," said Harry, looking amazed at Danielle.

"I think I like you," said Luna, who had come out from behind her magazine for a moment to see Malfoy go in such disarray.

"Thanks, Danielle," said Hermione with relief. Meanwhile, Ron was looking at Danielle with the utmost perplexity.

"But...you were talking to him outside the train before we left the station..." he said slowly, pointing between Danielle and the door behind which Malfoy had just disappeared.

Danielle rolled her eyes, having had about enough of Ron's prejudgements by now. "What? You think just because I'm new here, I'm not smart enough to know a pig when I see one?"

Ron's ears turned as red as his hair and Hermione gave him a "told you so" look. Ginny seemed satisfied that Danielle was all right as well, now that she understood where the new student and the old bully really stood in their relationship.

"Are you sure you're not in Gryffindor?" asked Neville, looking even more impressed with Danielle by the minute.

To this, Danielle couldn't help but ask, "Why? Do Gryffindors have something against Hufflepuff too?

"No," Neville said at once, surprised. "It's just...you seem to have a lot more in common with Gryffindors; what with how you dealt with Malfoy and all."

"What does _that_ matter?" Danielle asked with a shrug, feeling like she was missing something. "Why is it such a big deal what house I'm in?"

"It's not, Danielle," said Hermione.

Danielle folded her arms skeptically. "Some tension I've observed just now" —she jerked her head towards the door— "has led me to believe otherwise."

Silence fell over the congregation and Danielle noticed the kids exchanging uncertain looks, as though not knowing how to answer her. Hermione was the first to finally speak. She was the one who was most comfortable talking with Danielle after all.

"Well, at Hogwarts, there's this competition throughout the year between the houses. Depending on how well a student does, they earn points towards the house cup that's awarded at the end of the year to whichever house has the most points."

"So I've heard," Danielle said dismissively, remembering Professor McGonagall's explanation perfectly well. "Does this House Cup contain a magic potion or something else special?"

"No, nothing like that. It's just about bragging rights really."

"Then why all the hype?" Everyone just gave Danielle confused looks. "This rivalry, to me, seems to be a bit extreme to be just over an empty cup."

"Well, the rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor in particular has always run fairly deep. Slytherins are known for their ambition, but sometimes use...questionable methods...to get what they want," Hermione explained.

"That house is also known for producing the most Dark wizards in history," Ron piped in, looking as though this was the most reasonable explanation in the world.

Danielle had to disagree. "People are judged in those houses based on its _history_?"

"It's not just history, Danielle, it's happening now," Hermione quickly put in. "You've met Malfoy. And that's just a sample of how unpleasant he can really be to anyone that's...not like him."

Danielle sighed heavily, rolling her eyes.

"A lot of them come from families that supported You-Know-Who back before Harry stopped him," said Neville seriously.

Danielle shook her head in disgust. "That doesn't mean they're _all_ like that!"

"You wanna bet?" said Ron, starting to look like he was having second guesses about Danielle all over again.

"The ones _we_ always have to deal with are," said Harry, staring out the window with a mildly bored expression.

"So Gryffindor's known for being the heroes who stand in the way of the _supposedly_ future bad guys?" asked Danielle starting to feel disappointed in the direction this conversation was going. It seemed that prejudice was an even bigger problem in the Wizarding community than it was between the ghost and human worlds.

Another silence fell in which everyone exchanged looks as though they had never thought of it like this. Ron looked prideful at the thought of being in the house of heroes while others like Hermione and Neville seemed like they were thinking perhaps it was rather judgmental after all.

"Well, Griffindor's _are_ generally known for their courage," said Ginny. "Ravenclaw is known for intelligence," she indicated Luna who lowered her magazine once more to recite, _"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure," _before raising it up again.

Danielle couldn't help raising an eyebrow in realizing that the different houses seemed to have specific stereotypes they were labeled with. "Okay...well...what about Hufflepuff? What are _they_ known for?" she asked curiously.

For some reason, everyone seemed to be having trouble answering this question. Luna was the one who piped in from behind her magazine. "Hufflepuff never really had much going for them before Cedric Diggery died in the tri-wizard tournament last year, did they."

Everyone stared as Danielle took this in with a bit of surprise. "So, according to you guys, I'm in the house that doesn't really matter?"

"No!" Hermione said at once. "That's not how we think of you at all, Danielle!"

"Yeah, because I noticed everyone thinks I should be in Gryffindor," Danielle's tone became a bit harsh as she shot accusatory looks at everyone in the compartment.

"Not because we think Hufflepuff is worthless," Neville said with a hint of regret.

"Then what else can you tell me about the house I'm in?" Danielle challenged, folding her arms once again.

"Loyalty," Luna replied dreamily.

"Huh?" Danielle was slightly taken aback by how fast her question was answered, despite the first go around.

"Hufflepuff is known for its loyalty," said Ginny, looking a bit relieved. "They're also generally hard-working."

Everyone nodded in confirmation. No one seemed uncertain by this statement, so Danielle gathered that it really was a trait of the house she had been sorted into. It just took them a while to think of it for some reason.

"A lot of the good friends we have at Hogwarts are in Hufflepuff, Danielle," said Hermione reassured. "They may not get the most praise, but none in that house are ashamed to be a part of it. You shouldn't be either. In fact, being in Hufflepuff, I think it means you'll fit right in. As the exchange student. If you know what I mean."

Hermione gave Danielle a knowing look in adding the last part. Danielle nodded thoughtfully, knowing Hermione did have a point about being able to blend in better while in Hufflepuff. That was the main thing Danielle had been worried about when the sorting hat had put her in that house. She really had no right to complain in that regard.

Loyalty. Danielle remembered the sorting hat had pointed that out as a good trait she had, but she never really dwelt on it as a trait that would set her apart so distinctly. Danielle had mainly thought she was put in Hufflepuff for the sake of staying undercover. All in all, Danielle felt better for the remainder of the train ride.

_**Note:**__**If you catch spelling or grammatical errors in this chapter or in any of the others, please refrain from putting them in the reviews and send them to me by PM instead.**_

_**So. Think Danny's idea of giving Dani the Fenton Thermos as a good one? What did you think of the introduction to Draco Malfoy: Introduction to Luna and Neville? Do the characters personalities seem accurate enough or do I have some revising to do? What did you guys think overall? Any points you'd like to highlight? I feel like the last paragraph could use some revising to help wrap it up better.**_

_**I can't say when I'll be able to update again. I still have a lot of figuring out to do for the next chapter and I've become busier than ever in recently becoming the director of this short animated film I'm making at school. Really, the only thing that motivated me to finish this one was that I promised you guys I'd update by the summer. Now I have no idea what to do for the next chapter and I've got a lot of things on my plate in trying to get my animation career going. I Hope you'll still be around when I update again because at the rate things are going, it may take a whole year before I'm able to pick this up again.**_

_**In the meantime, I hope you at least enjoyed this chapter and will leave reviews of your thoughts and suggestions on how to make the whole story better. Remember. Leave grammar and spelling errors in PMs. Not the reviews.**_

_**See ya next time. ^_^**_


	11. Being a Hufflepuff

_**Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Even though I said the next update might take a year, I broke. With having a lot of the descriptions and dialogue already written from the movie and the books, it did simplify the work I had to do with this chapter better than I thought, so i was able to be more productive on it in my spare time. So here it is. **_

_**Note**__**: If you spot any grammar or spelling error please bring them to my attention through a PM and not as part of a review.**_

_**Disclaimer:**__** I do NOT own Danny Phantom (Except my design of the older version of Danielle) or any of the Harry Potter books or movies**__._

**Chapter 11: Undercover **

The weather remained undecided as the Hogwarts Express traveled further and further north. Rain spattered the windows in a halfhearted way, then the sun put in a feeble appearance before clouds drifted over it once more. When darkness fell and lamps came on inside the carriages, Luna Lovegood rolled up _The Quibbler_, put it carefully away in her bag, and took to staring at everyone in the compartment instead.

Danielle finally gave in to the temptation to take a flight outside the train, now that it was dark. She excused herself from the compartment, saying she was going to use the restroom, found a secluded place to Go Ghost, turned invisible and phased out of the train through the caboose. Danielle made sure to stay above the roof of the train, making sure no one who happened to be looking out the windows would have a chance in seeing her. It wouldn't do at all to give even the slightest hint of her identity on the first day at Hogwarts.

The fresh air was such a relief compared the stuffy interior of the compartment. After only the first five minutes, Danielle began to see a vast castle with many towers and turrets looming above the trees ahead. She had never seen Hogwarts from the outside before. Dumbledore had teleported her directly inside his office with the Porkey. It was quite the sight with all the flickering lights coming from the windows, cutting through the darkness of the moonless night. Now she understood what Dumbledore had said about not wanting to spoil any surprises. If just the outside had such magnificence, Danielle was getting all the more excited about exploring more of the inside.

Before long, Danielle realized fifteen minutes had already come and gone and decided she should return to the train to avoid being missed. She turned invisible before phasing inside and found a good place to transform back into her human self. No one seemed to suspect anything as she casually strode down the corridor. Once she slid open the compartment door, she found Hermione, Harry and all the others getting into their school robes, saying that they would be arriving at Hogsmeade Station soon; which Danielle already knew from her short flight outside, of course. Nevertheless, she followed suit in pulling out her robe. She saw Ron and Hermione pin their prefects badges carefully to their chests. Ron was checking how it looked in the black window.

At last the train began to slow down and a racket started erupting up and down it as everyone scrambled to get their luggage and pets assembled, ready for departure. Ron and Hermione were supposed to supervise this; they disappeared from the carriage again, leaving Danielle and the others to look after Crookshanks and Pigwidgeon.

"I'll take him," said Ginny to Danielle as she picked up Crookshanks. Danielle wasn't at all feeling like touching, let alone carrying, any cat. She was willing to take Pigwidgeon from Harry, however, but Luna beat her to it, allowing Harry to hoist Hedwig's cage more securely in his arms.

They shuffled out of the compartment, feeling the sting of the night air on their faces as they joined the crowd in the corridor. Slowly, they moved towards the doors. Danielle kept thinking to go intangible to just walk through the wall to the side and get onto the platform early but had to refrain from doing so in knowing how many people would see her and make a scene of it. Finally, she stepped onto the platform, looking around as a brisk female voice was calling, "First years line up over here, please! All first years to me!"

A lantern came swinging toward them and by its light, Danielle saw a prominent chin and sever haircut of a witch that was carrying it.

"Where's Hagrid?" Harry was asking aloud, looking at the witch with the lantern, confused.

"I don't know," said Ginny, "but we'd better get out of the way, we're blocking the door."

"Oh yeah..."

All that had been in the same compartment with Danielle became separated as they moved off along the platform and out through the station. Eventually, they were all shunted onto a dark rain-washed road outside of Hogsmeade Station. Here, there were about a hundred or so carriages that Hermione had said always took the students above first year up to the castle.

The creatures that pulled them looked very strange to Danielle. They resembled horses, though there was something reptilian about them, too. They were completely fleshless, their black coats clinging to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their heads were dragonish, and their pupil-less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither - vast, black leathery wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant bats. Standing still and quiet in the gloom, the creatures looked eerie and sinister. Danielle cocked her head to the side in realizing that they were also strangely transparent.

It may have been Danielle's first time here, and truthfully she had seen more ghastly-looking creatures come from out of the Ghost Zone, (and of course she never forgot the Dementors back in Little Whinging) but she couldn't understand why hardly anyone else seemed to be bothered by these creatures pulling the carriages. Not even the second years. Also, she could have sworn Hermione had told her that the carriages pulled themselves.

Before Danielle could dwell anymore on the strange sight of the reptilian horses, she felt a tug on her shoulder. Hermione had showed up and was already holding Crookshanks.

"Come on, Danielle," said Hermione with an encouraging smile. "Let's all get a carriage together before they all fill up."

Hermione already started heading off towards the nearest unoccupied carriage as Danielle lagged behind, looking around at all the other students who seemed to be taking practically no notice of the strange horses; perhaps because they were already used to them. That was when Danielle caught the sight of Harry grabbing Ron's arm and wheeling him about so he was face-to-face with the winged horse that was pulling the carriage in which Hermione and Ginny were already sitting. Ron stared straight at it for a second, then looked back at Harry.

"...what am I supposed to be looking at?"

"At the - there, between the shafts!" said Harry impatiently. "Harnessed to the coach! It's right in front-"

Danielle's interest piqued as Ron continued to look bemused. She watched as Harry seemed to have a thought occur to him.

"Can't...can't you see them?" he said.

"See what?" asked Ron.

"Can't you see what's pulling the carriage?"

Ron looked seriously alarmed now.

"Are you feeling all right, Harry?"

"I...yeah..."

Harry looked utterly bewildered. Danielle herself was finding this observation quite peculiar. Was the reason the other students were not being bothered by the horses because they couldn't see them at all? If that was the case, why was Danielle able to see them? She would have supposed it had something to do with her ghost-powers, but somehow, Harry was the only other one seeing them and was looking quite uncomfortable by it.

"Shall we get in, then?" said Ron uncertainly, looking at Harry as though worried about him.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Yeah, go on..."

"You're not going mad, I can see them too," said a dreamy voice from beside Harry as Ron walked off to join Hermione and Ginny in the carriage, "you're just as sane as I am."

Harry turned towards Luna, giving her a look as though he wasn't sure he quite believed her or not. Smiling faintly, Luna climbed into the musty interior of the carriage after Ron.

Neither Danielle nor Harry mentioned anything else of the horses as they sat down inside the carriage and Harry slammed the door behind them.

"Did everyone see that Grubbly-Plank woman?" asked Ginny. "What's she doing back here? Hagrid can't have left, can he?"

"I'll be quite glad if he has," said Luna. "He isn't a very good teacher, is he?"

"Yes, he is!" said Harry, Ron and Ginny angrily.

Danielle nearly jumped, staring at them from their sudden outburst. Harry glared at Hermione; she cleared her throat and quickly said, "Erm...yes...he's very good."

"Well, we think he's a bit of a joke in Ravenclaw," said Luna, unfazed.

"You've got a rubbish sense of humor then," Ron snapped, as the wheels below them creaked into motion.

Luna did not seem perturbed by Ron's rudeness; on the contrary, she simply watched him for a while as though he were a mildly interesting television program.

"Not afraid to speak her mind, is she..." whispered Danielle to Hermione, who didn't at all seem to know what to say.

Rattling and swaying, the carriages moved in convoy up the road. They soon passed between tall stone pillars topped with winged boars on either side of the gates to the school grounds. Danielle felt her heart beating faster and faster the closer the castle loomed up ahead. The carriages jingled to a halt near stone steps leading up to great oak front doors. Once Danielle got out of the carriage, she had to crane her neck to see all the way up the castle. It looked even better up close than it did when she was flying outside the train. Even with such dim outer lighting, Hogwarts was truly a magnificent sight.

"Are you coming or what?" said Ron beside Danielle as he was passing her to go up the stone steps.

In looking around at him, she found that he had been talking to Harry who was at the moment looking at the strange, skeletal creatures standing quietly in the chill night air, their blank white eyes gleaming. Harry seemed to not have been completely convinced that Luna could also see them.

"Oh...yeah," said Harry quickly, though he kept staring between Ron and the creatures as he was heading towards the main entrance of the castle. Danielle couldn't help feeling sorry for Harry in looking so awkward and alone. If she told him that she too could see the horses, perhaps that would help him feel better. But what if the reason she could see them was because of her ghost powers like it had been for the dementors?

"So, you see them too?" Danielle whispered to Harry in spite of herself as he was just about to pass her in going up the steps.

Harry stopped in mid-step at being addressed in such a secretive tone. "What...? You mean you _can_?" he said desperately, turning towards Danielle. He glanced carefully at one of the creatures before asking in an undertone, "What do they look like?"

Danielle didn't blame him for wanting to test if it was really just him having this hallucination, if that's what it was. Danielle took a moment to look back at the horse-like creatures.

"It's like a weird cross between a horse and a dragon," described Danielle in a whisper with a shrug, "bat wings, practically all skin and bone, kinda creepy-looking eyes..."

"They weren't there last year," said Harry, scratching the back of his head, seeming convinced, as well as relieved, that he really wasn't the only one who could see them and that Luna hadn't been lying. "Or at least I couldn't _see_ them then."

"Yeah. Hermione told me the carriages were supposed to be horseless too," Danielle reassured, adding to the confusion she and Harry were both feeling.

"So why are we the only ones that can see them?" Harry wondered.

"Maybe we aren't," Danielle suggested with a shrug. "Maybe a few others just don't want to admit it."

Though this thought did seem to make Harry feel a little better, it still didn't solve the mystery of how they were able to see the horses in the first place. If Harry had only started seeing them this year, why now and not before?

Ron was starting to get impatient waiting for Harry at the top of the stairs, so Harry and Danielle both joined the crowd, hurrying up the stone steps to the castle.

Just as soon as Danielle crossed the threshold of the main entrance she started to feel very warm inside. She thought it was from coming inside from the cold when the warmth suddenly rushed out from her chest and escaped her lips upon her next exhale. Danielle stifled a gasp, clapping a hand over her mouth in realizing her Ghost-Sense went off. Purely out of habit, she tensely cast a wary eye about, looking for signs of trouble.

"What's wrong?" asked Ginny as she was coming up from behind her.

"Uh...nothing...new place...it's...it's huge," Danielle quickly evaded. No one seemed to notice the faint puff of steam that had come from Danielle's mouth.

"I thought you came here to get sorted," said Ginny, tilting her head to the side, giving Danielle a perplexed look.

"I only saw Dumbledore's office," clarified Danielle as she was staring about at the ceiling.

"You get used to it I guess," reassured Ginny with a shrug as she moved along with the rest of the crowd.

_Idiot_! Danielle thought. Hermione had told her that there were ghosts at Hogwarts. How could she not have thought of her Ghost-Sense picking them up? Danielle was going to have to learn to really restrain herself when she sensed a ghost was near her or people would start suspecting something. Thankfully, that was one thing about her ghost powers that was easy to go unnoticed; the fact that it didn't seem to be as prominent as it usually was back home also helped. However, how was she supposed to cover something like that if they did start taking a notice of it; especially when she was in warmer places like this?

Not wanting to worry about it at the moment, Danielle took to looking around at the entrance hall. It was so big you could have fit the whole of the Fenton's old house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was too high to make out, and the magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. The hall echoed with footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, leading into the Great Hall.

This place was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were finding places to sit beside their friends. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Dotted here and there among the students shown misty silver beings that glided occasionally towards the ceiling. Well, Danielle knew were the ghosts were now and what they seemed to generally look like. In all honestly, she found them to be rather dull compared to the ghosts from the Ghost Zone. All the same, they were not at all how Danielle expected and they still triggered her ghost-sense. Something she was going to have to be mindful of through the whole upcoming year.

"Hufflepuff is over there..." said Hermione over Danielle's shoulder and pointing to the table second from the left. At which were students whose robes were lined with black and yellow hemming, just like Danielle's was.

Danielle looked nervously in Hermione's direction as she was already being caught in the crowd towards the Gryffindor table next to it (their colors being red and gold). Though the tables of these separate houses were right next to each other, Danielle still wouldn't be close enough to Hermione if she needed to ask her anymore questions. Taking a deep breath, Danielle slowly walked towards the Hufflepuff table without anyone nearby that she already knew. She passed by Malfoy and Pansy Parkinsen who were sitting at the table next to Hufflepuff on the other side. Both were giving her malicious glares as she passed by. _Great_, Danielle thought with an inward sigh of frustration: Friends on one side and enemies on the other at mealtimes. She had to be by the green and silver table where the school bullies had easy access to provoke her. Then again, Malfoy seemed to be despaired by the same thought.

Danielle sat down at the most vacant spot at the table that was furthest away from the Slytherin prefects as she could find. A few of the Hufflepuffs nearest her looked at her curiously as she sat down, having never seen her before and noticing she was definitely too old to be a first year. Mainly to avoid the staring, Danielle looked upward and saw the black ceiling with a few various clouds. She had read in _Hogwarts: A History_ that the ceiling of the Great Hall was bewitched to reflect how the weather looked outside. There didn't seem to be much of interest up there at the moment though, as it was a starless night.

"Hi."

Danielle looked away from the ceiling down to a blond girl that was approaching her at the table. She seemed to be about Danielle's age and accompanied by a stout boy. Both were wearing curious, but perplexed expressions on their faces.

"Never seen you before," the boy said. "What's your name?"

"Um...Danielle..." said Danielle, mildly surprised at being addressed at all.

"Danielle what?" the boy prodded.

Danielle paused before answering, "...Fenton,"

She watched the two kids carefully, as well as others around her, seeing if any of them recognized her last name and what it would connect her to. The boy looked thoughtful for a moment, making Danielle a bit nervous.

"That's funny, I don't remember anyone by the name of Fenton being in Hufflepuff."

"Hold on," said the girl, looking to be in thought herself. Danielle held her breath, watching the expression on the girl's face lighten up as though a realization was slowly coming to her. "I heard there was an exchange student transferring in this year. Is that you?"

Danielle quietly let out the breath she had been holding. "All the way from the USA," she said in relief.

"Oh, so _you're_ the exchange student!" said a boy with curly hair that was sitting with another group at the table and had been listening in. He scooted towards Danielle, looking interested. "I didn't know you'd be in Hufflepuff." He held out his hand for Danielle to shake. "Justin Finch-Fletchley. Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Thanks," said Danielle, taking Justin's hand with a somewhat relieved smile.

"Aw, come now, Justin, you can't let us be prefects first?" said the boy, looking a bit disappointed in being beaten to the greeting. Danielle had just noticed the prefect's badges both he and the girl were wearing on the front of their robes.

Justin simply shrugged, smirking at the prefect boy before scooting back over to his own group at the table with one last nod towards Danielle in welcome. The prefect boy shook his head before turning back to Danielle.

"Anyway, I'm Ernie Macmillan and this is Hannah Abbot," he indicated the girl prefect beside him who smiled at Danielle. Ernie stretched his hand across the table to shake Danielle's. Hannah did the same.

"We're the Hufflepuff prefects," added Ernie as he puffed out his chest and flashed his prefect badge for Danielle to see. "So if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask."

"Good to know," acknowledged Danielle.

Danielle took a moment to look around the rest of the Great Hall. She noticed that people were staring mainly at the Gryffindor table. They were huddled together watching Hermione, Ron and Harry. Whenever Harry looked in their direction, they'd either quickly look away or huddle even closer to their friends whispering urgently. _Of course_, Danielle thought. The _Daily Prophet_ had been feeding the whole Wizarding World lies about Harry being a show-off. That was why they were acting strange around Harry. In fact, aside from the friends back from Grimmauld Place, the closest person sitting next to Harry at the Gryffindor table at all was at least four seats away.

"So. United States. You're a long ways from home aren't you...?" Hannah was saying before Danielle even realized she was being talked to again.

"Oh - well, I'm...trying to get used to it," said Danielle, distracted.

"The United States?" said a kind voice.

Danielle spun around to see one of the ghosts had come up behind her. He resembled a fat little monk.

"Then you must be the fifth year foreign exchange student I've been hearing about," the ghost monk smiled warmly in greeting.

"Well, yeah, but...what have you been hearing?" said Danielle a bit timidly.

"Well, some of the teachers have told me that you seemed to be a delightful and bright young lady. And I think I already agree. I was ever so happy to hear that you'd be in Hufflepuff."

"Well...thanks."

The Fat Friar nodded and turned to glide away when he unexpectedly did a double-take back towards Danielle. Danielle unwillingly leaned back as the Friar was leaning towards her as though examining her face.

"Uh...something wrong?" said Danielle awkwardly.

"Oh, no, forgive me," The Fat Friar apologized, quickly drifting back as though he hadn't realized he had been staring. "It's just that you seem...somehow...familiar..." his face screwed in confusion again as though he couldn't quite place the name or face of who Danielle reminded him of. Danielle on the other hand had a feeling she knew exactly how familiar she looked to a particular someone. Could it be possible that Danny Phantom was known among the ghosts of the Wizarding World even though the Wizarding World itself seemed to pass by Danny's statue without a second thought? Danielle looked towards the Hufflepuff prefects who were now looking more curiously at her than she felt comfortable with.

"Well, uh..." Danielle cleared her throat before facing the Fat Friar again. "I can't imagine where from, as this is my first time being here...but it's nice meeting you nonetheless, sir."

"The feeling is mutual, my dear, miss...er..."

"Fenton. Danielle Fenton."

"Welcome again to Hufflepuff, Miss Fenton." said the Friar with a nod and a smile. Then he turned to leave once more. Danielle was relieved that he didn't seem to recognize her last name, although in the corner of her eye the Friar paused as though a memory had sparked in his transparent head and he looked back again at Danielle before finally moving on. Perhaps being in Britain and in the Wizarding World allowed Danny's human identity to escape revelation. Even if just barely. Hannah, Ernie and a few other Hufflepuffs were still looking baffled by the exchange between the new girl and the Fat Friar.

To Danielle's gratitude, before anyone could ask about it, the doors from the entrance hall opened. A long line of scared-looking first years entered, led by Proffessor McGonagall, who was carrying a stool on which sat what Danielle recognized as the Sorting Hat.

The buzz of the Great Hall faded away. The first years lined up in front of the staff table facing the rest of the students. Professor McGonagall placed the stool carefully in front of them, then stood back.

The first years' faces glowed palely in the candlelight. A small boy right in the middle of the row looked as though he was trembling. Danielle couldn't help feeling sorry for the poor terrified boy but was ever so glad she didn't have to be up there with them to be sorted.

The whole school waited with bated breath. Then the Sorting Hat burst into song.

_In times of old when I was new  
And Hogwarts barely started  
The Founders of our noble school  
Thought never to be parted:  
United by a common goal,  
They had the selfsame yearning  
To make the world's best magic school  
And pass along their learning.  
"Together we will build and teach!"  
The Four good friends decided  
And never did they dream that they  
Might someday be divided,  
For were there such friends anywhere  
As Slytherin and Gryffindor?  
Unless it was the second pair  
Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?  
So how could it have gone so wrong?  
How could such friendships fail?  
Why, I was there and so can tell  
The whole sad, sorry tale.  
Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those  
Whose ancestry is purest."  
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose  
Intelligence is surest."  
Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those  
With brave deeds to their name,"  
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot,  
And treat them just the same."  
So Hogwarts worked in harmony  
For several happy years,  
But the discord crept among us  
Feeding on our faults and fears.  
The Houses that, like pillars four,  
Had once held up our school,  
Now turned upon each other and,  
Divided, sought to rule.  
And for a while it seemed the school  
Must meet an early end,  
What with dueling and with fighting  
And the clash of friend on friend  
And at last there came a morning  
When old Slytherin departed  
And though the fighting then died out  
He left us quite downhearted.  
And never since the founders four  
Were whittled down to three  
Have the Houses been united  
And they once were meant to be.  
And now the Sorting Hat is here  
And you all know the score:  
I sort you into Houses  
Because that is what I'm for,  
But this year I'll go further,  
Listen closely to my song:  
Though condemned I am to split you  
Still I worry that it's wrong,  
Though I must fulfill my duty  
And must quarter every year  
Still I wonder whether sorting  
May not bring the end I fear.  
Oh, know the perils, read the signs,  
The warning history shows,  
For our Hogwarts is in danger  
From external, deadly foes  
And we must unite inside her  
Or we'll crumble from within  
I have told you, I have warned you...  
Let the sorting now begin_

Danielle vaguely remembered professor Flitwick saying that the Sorting Hat also sang, but she never really took the thought seriously. Now she really understood what he had meant. The hat became motionless once the song ended; applause broke out, though it was punctured with muttering whispers. Danielle wasn't really sure why. Did the hat not always give advice or warnings?

Danielle wasn't able to ask Hannah or Ernie about it as McGonagall was giving the whispering students a sort of look that scorches. The muttering came to an abrupt end as professor McGonagall lowered her eyes to her long piece of parchment and began to read aloud the names of the first years. One by one, as their names were called, the students sat on the stool and professor McGonagall placed the hat on their heads, just as she had Danielle. One of the four tables applauded loudly whenever the Sorting Hat called out the name of their house and the newest members sat down to join them. Danielle joined in the applause whenever a new Hufflepuff was sorted to them.

Slowly the long line of first years thinned. Finally the last one was sorted into Hufflepuff. Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and stool and marched them away as Headmaster Dumbledore rose to his feet.

"To our newcomers," he said in a ringing voice, his arms stretched wide and a beaming smile on his lips, "welcome! To our old hands-welcome back! There is a time for speechmaking, but this is not it. Tuck in!"

There was an appreciative laugh and an outbreak of applause as Dumbledore sat down neatly and threw his long beard over his shoulder so as to keep it out of the way of his plate-for food had appeared out of nowhere, so that the five long tables were groaning under the joints as pies and dishes of vegetables, bread, sauces, and flagons of pumpkin juice covered them.

In remembering how hungry she was Danielle gratefully followed the other students' lead in helping herself to whatever she liked that was in front of her.

"So, have you been in this county long, Fenton?" said Ernie as he was putting chops on his plate.

"I got here during the summer," Danielle answered casually.

"And how d'you like Britain so far?" asked Hannah, looking hopeful.

After a thoughtful pause, Danielle simply answered, "well it's...different."

"Good different or bad different?"

Danielle shrugged. "There are things that are still surprising me."

"That's life," said Ernie with a knowing smile.

Danielle almost laughed. "That's true."

"So are you staying in Britain for long or are you just here for school?"

"Just for school. The rest of my family's back in Americ-aah!" Danielle had turned to take a boiled potato from the platter to her right when she realized her arm had gone straight through another ghost that had been staring at her. Her arm felt like it had been dunked in ice-cold water and she immediately withdrew it. This ghost was wearing a ruff and tights and didn't seem at all bothered by the fact that Danielle's hand had been reaching right through his stomach. In fact he was still staring at her curiously. Danielle noticed that some Hufflepuff students were beginning to give her strange looks again.

"Uh...can I help you?" Danielle asked the ghost awkwardly.

As the Fat Friar had before him, he seemed to realize only now that he had been staring and quickly backed off.

"Oh! I do beg your pardon m'lady. You just...reminded me of...someone..." without another word, other than another confused glance in her direction, he steadily hovered away, leaving any Hufflepuffs who had witnessed the exchange looking quite perplexed.

"Twice in the same hour," Justin said quietly in wonder, staring after the ghost that had just left.

Danielle became aware of the several Hufflepuffs that were looking expectantly at her as though for some explanation. Danielle let out a heavy sigh looking down at her plate.

"And I thought I was already getting stared at just for my accent," she said gloomily.

"Oh, I'm sure they don't mean anything personal," Hannah said quickly and almost apologetically.

"Yeah. I mean; we don't often get foreign exchange students here, much less ones from an entirely different continent," said a girl whose name was Susan Bones.

"Yeah, they're probably just curious," said Justin. "Frankly, I'm sure _everyone_ is."

"Though it is odd that two of the ghosts would think you resembled someone they knew," Ernie said thoughtfully to no one in particular.

The general chatter of the rest of the Great Hall continued as Danielle concentrated more on eating what she had put on her plate when she looked around at the staff table. She recognized the heads of house from her Sorting and Dumbledore himself of course, but there were several others that she had never seen before. One in particular she noticed at the far end looked like someone's maiden aunt: squat, with short, curly, mouse-brown hair in which she had place a rather horrible pink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan she wore over her robes. Overall she looked rather like a large, pale toad with a flabby face, very little neck and a very wide slack mouth. Her eyes were large, round and slightly bulging. Danielle couldn't help feeling slightly uneasy just looking at the witch.

"Hey, can you tell me about some of the teachers that are at that table?" Danielle finally spoke, leaning towards the two Hufflepuff prefects.

"Like who?" asked Hannah, looking toward the staff table and seeming eager to help.

"That short witch at the far end in the pink, for starters," Danielle pointed out.

Both Hannah's and Ernie's gaze rested on the toad-like woman before their faces screwed in thoughtful confusion.

"You know, I'm not entirely sure," Hannah admitted.

Ernie shrugged and returned to his plate. "I suppose she must be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"That's practically a given every year isn't it," said Justin. "New Defense teacher at the start of term."

"Every year?" said Danielle, mystified. "Really?"

"The job is rumored to be jinxed," Susan whispered. "Anyone who has ever taken it on has never had it again the next year."

This was rather intriguing to Danielle. "And it's _always_ been like that?"

"For as long as we've been here."

Other Hufflepuffs nodded in confirmation of this fact.

"Maybe Snape did it," whispered a boy Danielle had yet to be introduced to and who happened to be listening in on the conversation. "He's always wanted the job after all and Dumbledore's never given it to him."

"Oh, Zack, stop being ridiculous," Susan retorted with a shake of her head.

"Snape's the potions master by the way; the one with the greasy hair sitting by the new teacher." Hannah pointed out to Danielle. "Oh and of course you must get to know Professor Sprout. She's the head of Hufflepuff and the Herbology teacher. She's the short one with the frizzy hair that's not wearing the cardigan."

Danielle already knew both these teachers of course, but she humored Hannah anyway in looking in the direction she was pointing and nodding in acknowledgement. Afterwards, Danielle looked towards the toad-woman again. So, that was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Dumbledore had said was the reason for Danielle coming to Hogwarts in the first place. She didn't really look capable of much trouble, but Danielle knew far too well not to make judgments based off appearances alone.

Danielle resumed eating for the remaining time of the feast, still taking occasional glances at the new teacher. When all the students had finished and the noise-level in the hall was creeping up again, Dumbledore got to his feet once more. Talking ceased immediately as all turned to face the headmaster.

"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," said Dumbledore. "First years should know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students - and a few of our older students ought to know by now too."

"_Oh come on_," Danielle complained in an undertone that was barely heard by anyone else. She was half ghost; she loved exploring at night. Perhaps with Dumbledore having her enrolled here undercover he'd allow that rule to slide a bit for her. Not that she'd tell if she was going to do it anyway.

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in the corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door. " Dumbledore went on.

"We have two changes in staffing this year. We are pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures while Professor Hagrid is on temporary leave. We also wish to welcome our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Delores Umbridge, and I'm sure you will all join me in wishing the professor good luck."

There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic applause during which Danielle looked in the direction of the Gryffindor table. She remembered Harry, Ron and Hermione mentioning a Hagrid before on their way up to the school and they seemed to now be exchanging slightly panicked looks in hearing that Hagrid was being, replaced, even if only temporarily. Dumbledore never mentioned for how long. Danielle made a mental note to ask about it in the future.

Dumbledore continued. "Also, tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the-"

He broke off, looking inquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge said, "_Hem, hem_," and it became clear that she had gotten to her feet and was intending to make a speech.

Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat back down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Other members of the staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair and Professor McGonagall's mouth became quite thin. Based on the way everyone was reacting, Danielle figured it must not have been normal for any new teacher to interrupt the headmaster. This woman was breaking the usual protocol of Dumbledore's start-of-term announcements.

"She was at my hearing, she works for Fudge." Danielle caught Harry whispering urgently to Hermione and Ron even from this distance away. Danielle's senses were sharper than any average human and she had been listening carefully for any verbal reactions to Umbridge's interjection. No one else seemed to have heard or bothered to hear what Harry had said specifically to his two friends.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome." Her voice was high-pitched, breathy, and little-girlish. "And how lovely to see all your bright happy faces smiling up at me."

Danielle glanced around. None of the faces she could see looked happy; on the contrary, they all looked rather take aback at being addressed as though they were five years old. Danielle couldn't blame them. She was finding herself not liking the woman at all.

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we're all going to be very good friends."

Students exchanged looks at this; some of them were barely concealing grins.

"That's likely," Fred and George said sarcastically in unison, looking rather bored.

"I'll be her friend as long as I don't have to borrow that cardigan," said a girl from the Gryffindor table whispering to another one, and both of them lapsed into silent giggles.

Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again ("_Hem, hem_"), but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. She sounded much more business like and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. Although each headmaster has brought something new to this historic school," she gave a significant glance towards Dumbledore who nodded back as though flattered, "progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged. Let us preserve what must be preserved, perfect what can be perfected and prune practices that ought to be prohibited."

She sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed his lead, though several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping. A few students joined in, but before they could applaud properly, Dumbledore had stood up again.

"Thank you very much, Professor, that was really most illuminating," he said, bowing to her. "Now-as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held..."

Danielle became more caught up in the quiet conversation that was happening at the Gryffindor table than in Dumbledore's final announcements.

"Illuminating," said Ron, surprised, "what a load of waffle."

"There was some important stuff hidden in the waffle," said Hermione grimly.

"Well, what does it mean?" said Harry

"I'll tell you what it means," said Hermione ominously. Danielle chanced a look in Hermione's direction. They made eye-contact and Danielle made a slight nod of her head with a grim expression of her own in agreement to Hermione's next statement before she even made it. "It means the Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts."

There was a great clattering and banging all round them; Dumbledore had obviously dismissed the school, because everyone was standing up ready to leave the Hall.

"Well, Fenton," Ernie was saying, standing up. "Hannah and I are supposed to escort the new first years to the common room. You can come with us or you can just follow the other Hufflepuffs..."

Danielle nodded with a smile. As she was getting up though, she glanced up at Dumbledore who was looking straight in her direction. His eyes shifted briefly towards Umbridge and back to Danielle, indicating to her that her job in observing the teacher from the Ministry had now officially begun. Danielle tried to look as much like she was acknowledging Dumbledore's signal as possible without making it obvious to the students around her before allowing herself to get caught up in the flow of the crowd heading out of the Great Hall.

"Over here, Fenton," called Susan Bones excitedly, waving Danielle over to the right as soon as Danielle had come out of the door of the Great Hall.

Danielle slowly headed towards Susan and Justin who stood waiting for her by a door that other Hufflepuffs were going through and that was to the right of the marble staircase: The one Danielle saw Ron and Hermione guiding the new Gryffindor first years up. Danielle felt slightly out of place going towards a different group of people than the Gryffindors she had come to get to know over the summer, but she supposed it was bound to happen before long. She would have to not be so clingy to those who were already familiar to her if she was going to stay inconspicuous anyway.

Danielle followed Justin and Susan through the door and down a flight of stone steps. Instead of ending up in a gloomy underground passage like she had expected, they found themselves in a broad stone corridor, brightly lit with torches, and decorated with cheerful paintings that were mainly of food. On the right hand side was a nook in which several large barrels were stacked up against the wall. To Danielle's confusion, this was where Justin and Susan stopped.

"Here we are," said Justin happily. "The entrance to the Hufflepuff common room."

When Danielle simply looked perplexed, Susan explained. "You tap one of the barrels in sequence to get in-Here, I'll show you."

Other Hufflepuffs were already beginning to gather around behind Danielle as Susan pulled out her wand and went over to the barrel that was two from the top and middle of the second row. Using her wand, she tapped the lid of the barrel twice, paused for a split second, and tapped an additional three times. The barrel lid swung open revealing a tunnel passage that looked like it went all the way through the wall behind the stack of barrels.

Danielle nodded, impressed as some of the students began to climb into the barrel and crawl through the tunnel on their hands and knees with still quite a bit of room leftover for their heads.

Danielle lagged behind with Susan and Justin for a while longer.

"You want to make sure it's this barrel here that you tap," Susan explained as she stowed away her wand. "Oh, and you don't want to be getting it wrong either or you'll get doused in vinegar and barred access until the next Hufflepuff comes along."

"_What_? Really?" said Danielle taken aback, but still finding the idea rather amusing. She was half hoping to get a demonstration of someone getting it wrong just so she could see if that was really what happened.

"Trust me-Don't test it," said Justin sternly. He must have read Danielle's expression. He then chivalrously indicating the barrel hole for Danielle to crawl through first.

Danielle felt herself actually getting more and more excited as she climbed into the barrel. Although she made a note that if her fake wand didn't work on the barrel, she'd have to either always come with someone else that did have a real one or make sure no one was on the other side and just go intangible through the wall. She'd have to test it out some time soon. Perhaps tonight when everyone else was asleep...

The entryway widened to where Danielle was able to stand before it opened to a large round, earthy and low-ceilinged room. The plush sofas and chairs that were all around were upholstered in yellow and black patterns and touched with burnished copper. Danielle remembered it being dark outside last she had checked, but there was nonetheless sunlight coming through the round windows and had a view or rippling grass and dandelions. Danielle had read in _Hogwarts: A History_ that the windows were always like no matter what time of day it was to make it always feels sunny and cozy in the room. In addition, there was an assortment of different plants hanging from the ceiling or resting on the windowsills.

In hearing a commotion coming from the entryway, Danielle turned to see that Hannah and Ernie were coming in with the first years.

"Ah, good. So you found the place, Fenton," said Ernie to Danielle before turning to the first years that were gathering behind him and Hannah.

"Welcome to the Hufflepuff common room. Professor Sprout, our own head of house is also the Herbology teacher here at Hogwarts. She often brings in the most interesting plant specimens, some of which can dance and even talk."

He indicated some of the plants that were about the room. The first years let out a collective "ooooooooooooooh" in seeing some of the plants moving. One of which, Danielle had only just noticed, was directly behind her and gently stroking her dark messy hair with a soft leaf for a hand, as though trying to smooth it down.

Danielle stepped away from the plant in surprise, getting a fleeting impression of Undergrowth (a self-healing killer-plant ghost from back in Amity Park). Upon a second glance in watching the plant dancing gracefully on the windowsill, however, it seemed much more peaceful and friendly to her. In fact, even though a lot of the plants seemed to be moving and actually speaking in greeting the enthusiastic first years, Danielle found she actually quite liked being in the room. It was certainly nothing like the Fenton residence, but still quite homey.

"Now, then," said Hannah. "Curfew is just about to start so this concludes our tour of the Hufflepuff wing of the castle. But the rest of the school has yet to be explored starting tomorrow morning. Until then, boy's retire in the dormitories that are through that door on the left of the fireplace and the girls to the door on the right."

Hannah indicated the round doors in the walls of the common room that were on either side of a gloriously lit fireplace with an oval-shaped portrait of a woman hanging above the mantle. Danielle guessed the portrait was of Helga Hufflepuff herself; the founder of the house.

Hannah and Ernie dismissed the now yawning first years and walked over to Danielle, Susan and Justin.

"So what do you think, Fenton?" asked Ernie, indicating the common room to her.

Danielle took a thoughtful moment to glance around the room, grinning.

"I like it," Danielle replied with an impressed nod.

"Wait till you see the rest of the castle," said Justin, though through a yawn.

"Tomorrow though. I think people are ready to just turn in by now," said Hannah, noticing how tired everyone seemed to be getting. Danielle herself failed in suppressing a yawn of her own.

"Come, Fenton-"

"Just Danielle, please," said Danielle, not really feeling comfortable at being formally addressed by kids her own age, "Dani for short, with an 'i'"

Hannah smiled. "Okay, well, the girl's dormitory is this way. Everyone's belongings should have already been brought in."

Susan and Hannah bade goodnight to the boys and guided Danielle through the door to the right of the mantle. It led to a series of tunnels through which Danielle followed Hannah and Susan to yet another door where the fifth years slept. They entered and Danielle found herself in another circular room lit by warm copper lanterns that hung over four-poster beds, all of which were covered in patchwork quilts. Copper bedwarmers hung on the walls in case of cold feet.

Danielle saw her trunk was set by one of the four-poster beds and happily flung herself in that one. After changing into her pajamas, Danielle was too tired to think much of anything else. She pulled the hangings around her bed and got under the warm blankets, barely say anything else to the other Hufflepuff girls other than "good night".

As Danielle lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, she could hardly believe she was actually sleeping in a castle tonight. She had never slept in such a magnificent-looking room in her life. The Fentons had told her that Vlad once lived in a castle in Wisconson. If Vlad had cared to truly treated her like family, perhaps he'd have given her a bed like this in a room of her own... Even if this setting was only temporary and for an undercover mission...Oh, the look on Vlad's face if he could see her now.

The more Danielle dwelt on these thoughts however, the more and more she began to remember the Fentons and the fact that none of them were there with her to share the observation of this irony. She'd wake up tomorrow morning as though she was starting an entirely new life... without her cousin...

_Sleep tight, Dani._

Danielle's heart leapt in suddenly hearing the instantly recognizable voice inside her head. How long had Danny been in telepathic range? He was probably not even in the room at the moment, but Danielle suddenly felt calmer in knowing he was somewhere around the castle.

_Thanks, Danny._ She thought back telepathically as she closed her eyes with a relieved smile. _Good night_.

Danielle fell asleep that night, having a feeling that her experience at Hogwarts was definitely going to be interesting; for better or worse.

_**Note**__**: If you spot any grammar or spelling error please bring them to my attention through a PM and not as part of a review.**_

_**Hopefully this didn't feel too rushed. I'm trying to find ways to simplify the story so I don't have to go through every detail of the book. You may have noticed the descriptions being taken from a lot of the books in the Harry Potter series as well as some bits from the movies. The descriptions for the Hufflepuff common room are from harrypotterwikia. Just a fun fact.**_

_**Anyway, now Danielle's at Hogwarts. And yes, she can see thestrals because of her ghost powers. Being half ghost, always hanging around 'dead people' and having been close enough to death herself that both she and Danny thought she really was a goner, I thought it would be enough to count as having seen death and therefore to see thestrals. Even if not as completely solid. So yeah, I cheated. I thought it would add to her being unusual compared to the other students in not having the same kind of 'magic.'**_

_**That on top of the ghosts seeming to recognize her Phantom side. So, what did you think? **_

_**Now. Even though I had finished this chapter sooner that I said I might, don't be getting your hopes up about the next one. I had already been slacking off more than I should have been on the project I'm supposed to be working on to finish this chapter. I can't say when I'll be able to start on the next chapter at all, so don't expect it within as good timing as I used to with my other stories. In the meantime, I hope you have been enjoying this rendition of the Order of the Phoenix so far and will still be with it by the time I pick it up again.**_


End file.
